CARDIOVASCULAR CENTER

Our Services

Commitment to Quality, Patient Safety, Access, the Use of Innovation, and Patient Experience

In 2017, the Cardiovascular Care Center team at SCVMC was engaged in a number of projects that improved quality of and access to care, patient safety, and the integration of diagnostic and therapeutic information into the electronic health record. 



CENTERS OF CARDIAC SPECIALIZATION

Heart Failure Program

The Heart Failure Program consists of an interdisciplinary team of providers (Cardiologist, Nurse Practitioner, Pharmacist, Social Worker) who work together closely to optimize your medications, diet and lifestyle with the goal of improving your symptoms, quality of life and reducing admissions to the hospital.

Interventional Cardiology

Our Cardiac Catheterization lab provides the latest technology to help treat coronary artery disease. We perform cardiac catheterization through both the femoral and radial route. Our patients have access to all three major drug eluting stents. We offer functional assessment of coronary artery disease with Fractional Flow Reserve and anatomical assessment with Intravascular Ultrasound. We perform complex coronary interventions such as chronic total occlusions, bifurcation lesions and calcified lesions requiring use of rotoblator. Our lab participates in the County wide STEMI program, opening occluded arteries in patients with heart attacks in less than 90 minutes of their arrival to our Emergency Room. We work in collaboration with the Pulmonary Division to assess patient with pulmonary hypertension.

Imaging

Our Imaging program consists of Level 3 Trained Echo Cardiologists and Echocardiography Board Certified Cardiologists. Our patients have access to transthoracic echocardiograms (over 8000 performed every year), transesopahgeal echocardiograms to assess complex shunts and valve disease, stress echoes which reduce radiation and cardiac MRI.

Cardiac Device Service

We implant over 100 cardiac devices every year, including Permanent Pacemakers to keep the heart beating, Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators (ICDs) to prevent sudden cardiac death, and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) for management of heart failure. Implantable Loop Recorders to help diagnose cardiac rhythm disturbances, and Intracardiac Monitors for heart failure patients (e.g., CardioMEMS), are also implanted here. We have a robust Surveillance Clinic to manage these patients after implantation, as well as those treated with LifeVests and Subcutaneous Defibrillators. Remote monitoring is an option for patients that want to limit the number of visits to our clinic. Also, our EKG Department offers patients 12-lead EKGs, 24 and 48 hour Holter Monitors and longer-term cardiac monitoring such as Zio Patch for specific cases.

General Cardiology

The Cardiology Clinic at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center welcomes patients from the entire community, offering interpretation for many languages such as Mandarin, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Russian. Every new patient in the clinic has an EKG (electrocardiogram). We offer preventive cardiac services as well as assessment of heart failure, coronary artery disease, alular disease and arrhythmias.



FULL LIST OF SERVICES

  • Centralized and coordinated workflow that improved response time and patient experience with phone communications to members of Cardiovascular Center care team.
  • E-Consultation: Improved workflow in the review, triage, and scheduling of referrals resulting in significant reductions in wait time for appointments, with high risk patients being seen as soon as the following business day. 
  • Complete and successful integration of diagnostic and therapeutic information from new patient monitoring systems in our Catheterization Laboratory into our electronic health record, thus improving immediate access to all patient related health information.
  • Improved workflow and timely access to SCVMC operating rooms through collaboration with Vascular Surgery and Operating Room care teams. 
  • Significant improvement in access to high quality and safe diagnostic imaging information through procurement of six state of the art cardiac ultrasound machines.
  • Improvement in patient satisfaction and enhanced identification and management of patients with the procurement of 2 state of the art devices that support remote monitoring of patients with suspected arrhythmia. These tools have allowed us to improve our ability to more diagnose and manage patients presenting with symptoms of arrhythmias.