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Patient Jamie Morrison is examined by Missy Jensen, nurse practitioner and clinical supervisor of the Heart Failure Clinic. Photography by Warren Diggles

“We offer a disease management program designed specifically for people with advanced cardiac disease,” says Missy Jensen, nurse practitioner and clinical supervisor of the Heart Failure Clinic at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley and McKee Medical Center in Loveland. “We follow the concept of chronic disease management and want to prepare people to take care of themselves 24/7 and not just when they are with doctors.”

That approach involves seeing the patients at the clinic rather frequently, Jensen says. “When we enroll them, we may see them every week or a couple times a week if they are very ill and then spread it out as they get more stable.”

The clinics use a team approach that includes clinical pharmacists, registered dieticians, nurses, nurse practitioners and cardiologists, Jensen says. “We also have the help of the cardiac rehab team to assist with rehabilitation, as well as the chaplain department that can help with counseling issues.”

An intensive first visit runs about an hour and a half, during which time they are visited by several of the clinic’s team members. “We look at the history and at the medications. We want to get them on the best medication in appropriate doses. The pharmacist spends a lot of time teaching them about the medications and how to take them and when. Then the dietitian teaches them about nutritional issues.”

That visit helps the team put together a treatment plan and determine how often they’ll be seen. “The treatment plan is individualized and is very different from patient to patient,” Jensen says.

The team sees patients in Greeley at NCMC every day and in Loveland at McKee every Tuesday. “We are seeing around 325 patients currently,” Jensen says.

In addition to the individualized plans and treatment, the clinics offer an education series open to the public and held at both McKee and NCMC. Education is extremely important, Jensen says. “Research shows that heart failure patients involved in intensive disease management programs have fewer hospitalizations, improved quality of life and lower mortality rates than other heart failure patients.”

And that’s what this effort is all about, Jensen says. “Our goal is to improve their quality of life and keep them out of the hospital.” +