Heart Failure: What to Expect
We want you to be as informed as possible about your visits with us. Learn more about what to expect at your first appointment.
Heart Failure: What to Bring To Your First Appointment
In order to maximize your appointment time with your cardiologist, be prepared for your first appointment by gathering all of the necessary information:
- Bring your medication list and the actual pill bottles for those medications.
- Bring any test results including laboratory tests. It is best to obtain the actual images (on CD-ROM) for:
- Echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart)
- Angiogram (dye injections to look at the arteries supplying the heart)
- Stress tests (tests to determine whether the blood flow to the heart if normal)
We usually obtain notes from your physician beforehand, but we encourage you to bring any medical documentation available to you.
Heart Failure Diagnostic Testing
If you do not have your medical records, you may need to have diagnostic testing performed. Our clinic will help you set up appointments for the testing. Learn more about heart failure diagnosis.
Heart Failure: What to Expect at Your First Appointment
Typically, your first appointment takes one hour or longer.
During this appointment:
- Meet our team: You will meet our heart failure team, including a heart failure physician and nurse.
- Medical history: We will review your medical history and any of the tests that have been sent with you.
- Your condition: You will learn about your condition, receive dietary recommendations and may have medications adjusted and other tests ordered.
- Testing: We usually do some tests, including:
- Echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) to measure your heart and valve function
- Electrocardiogram (EKG) to assess the rhythm of your heart
- If you have a defibrillator or pacemaker, we may interrogate your device to make sure it is working appropriately.
- We may ask you to have blood drawn at our laboratory, to check your kidney and liver functions.
Heart Failure: What to Expect at Future Visits
At future visits, depending on the severity of your condition, we may order a number of diagnostic tests. These may include:
