Heart
Failure Treatment Program
Treatments available | Key team members | Five myths about heart failure | Heart failure presentation
Featured articles:
Clinical Trials - article in Iowa City Press-Citizen
Heart failure can be managed | Managing your heart failure
Questions and answers with Dr. Ron Oren
About heart failure
Heart failure is a complex condition that can be difficult to live with. People living with heart failure can experience fatigue, shortness of breath, swelling, and other symptoms that impair their quality of life. An individual's condition can change from one day to the next, and this makes it hard for patients and families to plan and adapt.
Mercy's heart failure treatment program is designed to:
- Closely monitor the patient's health
- Intervene early if problems arise
- Help individuals improve their self-management skills
Each patient is evaluated individually and provided the most advanced and appropriate treatments possible. These treatments can be organized into three primary approaches:
- Pharmacologic, that is, treating the conditions with medications.
- Non-pharmacologic, referring to daily self-care strategies. Education and support can play an important role.
- Device therapy. This may include an implantable pacemaker to maintain the heart’s rhythm and efficiency, or the approach called ultrafiltration, which removes excess fluid from the body.
Treatments Available
- Multidisciplinary team approach
- Outpatient IV infusions
- Ultrafiltration
- Clinical Research Trials
- Cardiac Transplant Evaluation
- Post Transplant follow-up
Key Team Members
The health care professionals on the heart failure treatment team bring expertise from a variety of disciplines to provide complete and well-coordinated care. These include physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, exercise therapists, social workers, and others.
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Ron M. Oren, MD, FACC,
Director of the Heart Failure Treatment Program
Dr. Oren completed his medical education at Rush Medical College in Chicago in 1986. He completed his residency at Washington University Affiliated Hospital in St. Louis and fellowships in cardiovascular disease at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and University of Utah Science Center. His practice includes cardiology and acute and chronic heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. complete bio
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Amy Becker, RN, Heart Failure Team
Amy received a Bachelor of Science Degree at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, and an Associate Degree in Nursing at Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa. Amy has four years experience in the care of heart failure patients. Prior to coming to Mercy Iowa City, Amy worked as a heart failure and pulmonary hypertension research coordinator at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
Amy has extensive experience in the clinical care of heart failure and pulmonary hypertension patients and has been involved in patient education projects and numerous research trials dealing with mediations and devices to help treat heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. |
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Becky Crane, RN, Heart Failure Team
Becky Crane received both a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Master of Science degree from the University of Iowa College of Nursing. Becky has many years of experience in caring for the heart failure and pulmonary hypertension patient populations in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Prior to joining the Mercy Iowa City, Becky had spent the past 5 years as a heart failure and pulmonary hypertension care coordinator at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. |
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Carla Pies, RN, Heart Failure Team
Carla Pies received an Associate Degree in Nursing from Des Moines Area Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree and a Masters of Science in Nursing Degree from the University of Iowa. Prior to working at Mercy Iowa City, she worked with the University of Iowa Heart Failure Treatment Program and Pulmonary Hypertension Program for the past 11 years. Carla has extensive experience in caring for people with heart failure and pulmonary hypertension and working on research projects to help improve care in these areas.
Some of the projects Carla has worked on include developing patient education materials, improving heart failure quality measures, and assessing depression in heart failure patients.
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Five Myths about Heart Failure
Myth No. 1: Heart failure is a sudden acute illness like a heart attack.
Fact: Heart failure is a lifelong illness with occasional worsening that often can be prevented.
Myth No. 2: Heart failure is a hopeless, uniformly terminal condition.
Fact: With proper therapy (medications, education, diet, etc.), many patients improve and do well for years.
Myth No. 3: Heart failure is rarely diagnosed.
Fact: Heart failure is the most common hospital discharge diagnosis for patients over the age of 65 and its incidence is increasing.
Myth No. 4: Early recognition and treatment don’t make any difference.
Fact: If started early, proper medication can slow or reverse the progress of heart failure and result in a better outcome.
Myth No. 5: A team approach to the heart failure patient is wasteful and unnecessary.
Fact: Heart failure is best treated by a multidisciplinary team that includes physicians, nurses, dietitians, and others. This approach lowers costs and improves outcomes.
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