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Pulmonary Hypertension Program
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The clinical portion of the Pulmonary Hypertension Center has evaluated and treated over 1200 patients with either primary or secondary pulmonary hypertension. In just over one decade, the program has rapidly grown into a multidisciplinary (see organizational chart below), nationally and internationally recognized, regional referral center offering diagnostic and therapeutic modalities unique in the Rocky Mountain West. Patients have been referred from at least 13 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, and Florida. Approximately 200 new patients are seen annually, with approximately 1000 total annual clinic visits. This represents substantial growth over time.
The Pulmonary Hypertension Center began operation with one full-time nurse coordinator. The staff currently includes 3 full-time nurse coordinators, a half-time nurse case manager, and a full-time administrative assistant. There are currently 4 physicians seeing patients in the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, which operates 4 afternoons per week. The Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic is located in the Heart Center, which enables easy patient access to the Echocardiography lab and facilitates collaborative patient care with the cardiologists.
Patients seen in the Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic often require multiple diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures, including chest radiography, ventilation-perfusion lung scanning, pulmonary function testing, laboratory testing, echocardiography, chest CT scanning, cardiac catheterization, pulmonary arteriography, Hickman central venous catheter placement, lung transplantation, etc. Care of these patients therefore involves multiple clinical services, including Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Cardiology, Rheumatology, Radiology, Pathology, and Cardiothoracic Surgery.
Patients referred to the University of Colorado Hospital for evaluation and treatment of pulmonary hypertension are often referred “out of plan”, and represent patients new to our system that would not otherwise receive care at UCH. Due to the complexity of the care provided to these patients, considerable “downstream revenue” is generated. A recent financial analysis prepared by the UCH Development Office demonstrated that reimbursement received essentially covers both direct and indirect costs, whereas the usual goal is for a program to cover the direct costs and one-half of the indirect costs.
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David Badesh, MD
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