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Heart Care Services

Expert Heart Care at CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute

As one of the nation’s highest-quality, award-winning heart programs, CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute has provided advanced cardiology expertise to the region for 25+ years. Our specialists and subspecialists stay on the forefront of cardiovascular care to ensure the very latest treatments are available to you and your patients.

  • More than 70 cardiology specialists and subspecialists
  • Acute services at all 14 CHI Health hospitals
  • Outpatient services at more than 35 outreach locations across Nebraska, southwest Iowa and northern Kansas.

Whether it’s the latest recommendations for disease prevention or a breakthrough treatment, our heart program is always moving forward for you and your health.

Our Cardiology Services

A Cardiologist is a physician that has undergone cardiovascular disease fellowship training and can treat disorders of the heart. CHI Health is home to highly skilled cardiologists that provide high-quality patient-centered care for your heart. With Heart Institute locations across the state, it's easy to find a heart doctor near you. 

Our general cardiology services at the CHI Health Heart Institute include preventive cardiology, sophisticated diagnostic and treatment services and referral to specialized cardiologists. General cardiologists work with the cardiovascular sub-specialists (experts who deal with a particular area of the heart) to offer the best treatment options for each person, no matter what heart disorder you may have.

Electrophysiology (EP), or heart rhythm management, is the study, diagnosis, and treatment of the abnormalities (arrhythmias) of the electrical conduction of the heart. An electrophysiologist is a cardiologist who specializes in the diagnosis and treatments these abnormalities. The electrophysiologists at the CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute specialize in treating arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia and many others with the latest technology, procedures and devices. They work collaboratively with our general cardiologists and interventional cardiologists as well as cardiovascular surgeons to provide high-quality patient centered care for a wide variety of conditions including atrial fibrillation.

Conditions

  • Arrhythmia
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Atrial Flutter
  • Ventricular Fibrillation
  • Ventricular Tachycardia
  • Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome

Treatments

  • Atrial Fibrillation Ablation
  • Device Interrogation
  • Electrical Cardioversion
  • Monitoring
  • Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD)
  • Pacemaker Implantation

The Structural Heart Program is a collaborative effort involving interventional cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons from the CHI Health Heart & Vascular Institute working together to provide innovative heart treatment solutions and the best possible outcomes for our patients with even the most complex structural heart diseases.

Conditions

  • Aortic Stenosis
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Atrial Septal Defect (ASD)
  • Coarctation of the Aorta
  • Coronary Artery Chronic Total Occlusion
  • HCM (Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy)
  • Mitral Valve Regurgitation
  • Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO)
  • Septal Defects
  • Valve Leaks (Paravalvular)

Treatments & Procedures

  • Alcohol Septal Ablation
  • Angioplasty and Coronary Stenting
  • Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Repair
  • Balloon Valvuloplasty
  • Cardiac Catheterization
  • Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
  • Heart Valve Surgery
  • Left Atrial Appendage Closure
  • VAD/LVAD (Left Ventricular Assist Device)
  • Mitral Valve Regurgitation Treatment
  • Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO) Repair
  • Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI)
  • TAVR (Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement)

Your vascular system is a complex expressway of veins and arteries in your body. Vascular surgery may be needed when blocked or hardened arteries lead to vascular disease. Vascular disease can lead to serious side effects such as a stroke. Millions of Americans are unaware that they are at risk of a disability or premature death due to vascular disease. Some vascular disease sufferers experience symptoms such as pain when walking while half affected experience no symptoms at all.

Individuals 55 years of age or older with cardiovascular risk factors such as a history of hypertension, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol, or known cardiovascular disease may benefit from preventive screening for vascular disease.

CHI Health’s vascular program offers a range of preventive screenings and vascular surgery options with providers that are experienced in vascular procedures.

Vascular Screenings

  • Abdominal Aortic Ultrasound: Using ultrasound, the abdominal aorta (the main artery of the body) and branching arteries are imaged to determine if there is enlargement (aneurysm) and to evaluate for plaque and blockage.
  • Arterial Extremity Study: Blood pressures are taken at the ankle and brachial levels and ultrasound is used to examine the arteries to evaluate for plaque and blockage.
  • Carotid Doppler Study: A large proportion of strokes are caused by plaque in the carotid arteries. A carotid artery screening is a painless ultrasound exam of the arteries in the neck which supply blood to the brain. It is used to assess the plaque buildup in these arteries.

Vascular Diagnostic Tests

  • Venous Doppler Study: Ultrasound is used to examine the veins in the legs or arms to see if there are blood clots or to evaluate the veins from the leg used in heart bypass surgery.

Renal Duplex Ultrasound: Ultrasound is used to examine the arteries that carry blood flow to the kidneys and to examine the flow within the kidney.

Our cardiologists have experience in early detection and advanced treatment of peripheral arterial disease (PAD), abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and carotid artery stenosis (stroke risk). Our interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons provide a wide range of diagnostics and treatment for vascular disease and associated conditions. This includes traditional open surgeries, minimally-invasive catheter procedures and hybrid procedures which combine both surgical and catheter techniques.

Graft surveillance

An arterial bypass graft using a person’s own vein for the graft is the most durable means to treat severe peripheral artery disease when the blockage is below the level of the groin. Graft surveillance is of proven benefit in improving graft patency at least in the first year after arterial bypass surgery. The testing frequency should be individualized to the patient, type of arterial bypass, and duplex scan findings. Graft evaluation can include clinical assessment for new or changes in limb ischemia symptoms, measurement of ankle or toe systolic pressure, or both, and duplex ultrasound imaging of the bypass graft, which in the early postoperative period is predictive of the subsequent need for bypass graft revision. Surveillance intervals can vary from every four months during the first year after surgery, every six months the next year, then annually.

CHI Health Cardiac Rehabilitation is a specialized exercise program that enables heart patients and high risk individuals to achieve and maintain optimal states of health. This program is for the individual with coronary artery disease who has been treated medically or surgically.

The program is designed to provide progressive exercise and education with medical supervision. Cardiac Rehabilitation’s primary goal is to enable the individual to achieve a personal level of optimal physical and psychological health.

Participation

Participation is dependent on physician referral. Each patient's physician receives monthly progress reports. Physicians are also informed any time a change in condition is noted.

Insurance Coverage

Most major insurance companies, as well as Medicare and Medicaid, cover all or part of the cost for participants who qualify. Because all policies vary, patients are encouraged to check with their insurance company for specific coverage.

Program Phases

Cardiac Rehabilitation occurs in two phases, accommodating the needs of all patients experiencing heart problems at any level.

Phase 1: Inpatient Program

Phase 1 is designed for hospitalized individuals who have experienced a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or other heart problems. This phase includes light exercise for the participant, as well as education for both the patient and family.

Phase 2: Outpatient Program

Phase 2 is a 12-week program generally beginning after discharge from the hospital or when safely determined by a doctor. This consists of structured, individualized exercise to increase endurance early in recovery as well as education to assist he patient in making life style changes. Heart rate, heart rhythm and blood pressure are constantly monitored by a registered nurse. The program includes exercise sessions three times a week for about an hour. Sessions involve a warm up period, aerobic type exercise (performed on a treadmill, bicycle and arm ergometer) and end with a cool down period.

Sessions are conducted at the hospital, offering the opportunity to safely and confidently increase individual activity levels through the structure and guidance of a trained personal cardiac rehabilitation professional. Cardiac Rehabilitation is offered at most CHI Health hospitals in metro Omaha and Papillion in Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Corning and Missouri Valley, in Iowa. 

If you’re experiencing heart failure symptoms (such as difficulty breathing, fatigue or swelling of your legs), time is on your mind. It’s on ours, too. Nearly 4 decades of innovation have resulted in proven therapies for heart failure, which affects one in five adults age 50 and older over their lifetime.

The good news? Early diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle changes can mean a second chance for a longer, more fulfilling life. CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute's comprehensive heart failure program and team of experts offer highly specialized, proven treatments to help patients with heart failure get back to the life they love.

What is Heart Failure?

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition that means the heart isn't able to pump enough blood for your body’s needs. This causes fluid retention and congestion of the lungs or other parts of your body such as the ankles, legs and the abdomen. A diagnosis of heart failure does not mean the heart has stopped working. It does mean the heart muscle function has worsened over time.

At first, the heart tries to keep up with its workload by getting larger. The chambers change in shape, size or geometry so they can contract more strongly and pump more blood. The heart may develop more muscle mass because the contracting cells get bigger and the heart is able to pump more strongly, for a while. Blood vessels get narrower to keep blood pressure up. The body diverts blood from less important tissues and organs so it can maintain blood flow to the heart and brain. 

The Heart Failure Management Program at CHI Health provides outpatient treatment and education to help chronic heart failure patients live longer, more rewarding lives. Intravenous therapy, monitoring and education are done in an outpatient setting to avoid hospitalization and decrease overall treatment costs. A multidisciplinary team, consisting of a physician, advanced practice providers, nurses, pharmacists, dietitians and others, participates in the care and support of the patient to obtain optimal therapy outcomes.

Patients can be confident that no matter which CHI Health hospital they choose, they will receive the same high standard of care for heart failure. 

How common is heart failure?

Approximately 6.5 million adult Americans have heart failure. Heart failure, which affects one in five adults age 50 and older over their lifetime.

What are the types of Heart Failure?

Left-Sided Heart Failure

When the heart pumps, it moves oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left atrium, and then into the left ventricle, which pumps it throughout the body.

Because the left ventricle provides most of the heart's pumping power, it's larger than the other chambers and vital for normal function. In left-sided or left ventricular (LV) heart failure, the left side of the heart must work harder to pump the same amount of blood.

There are two types of left-sided heart failure.

  • Heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (previously called systolic heart failure): When the heart muscle contracts or beats, it pumps blood out of the heart. In systolic failure, the left ventricle loses its ability to contract normally. The heart can't pump with enough force to push enough blood into circulation.
  • Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (previously called diastolic heart failure): The heart relaxes between beats, allowing blood to fill up its chambers. In diastolic failure, the left ventricle loses its ability to relax normally and the muscle becomes stiff. The heart can't properly fill with blood during the resting period between each beat.

Right-Sided Heart Failure

The right side of the heart pumps "used" blood that returns to the heart through the veins through the right atrium and into the right lower chamber (ventricle). The right ventricle then pumps the blood back out of the heart into the lungs where it picks up oxygen.

Right-sided or right ventricular (RV) heart failure usually occurs as a result of left-sided failure or high pressures in the pulmonary artery that transfers the blood from the right side of the heart to the lung (pulmonary hypertension). When the left ventricle fails, increased fluid pressure is, in effect, transferred back through the lungs and can damage the heart's right side. When the right side loses pumping power, blood backs up in the body's veins. This usually causes swelling in the legs and ankles (edema).

Congestion in Heart Failure

As the heart's pumping becomes less effective, it works harder. The heart muscle becomes enlarged. The kidneys receive less blood and compensate by filtering less fluid, salt and waste out of circulation and into the urine.

Excess fluid in the blood increases the volume of blood, causing blood pressure to increase. Fluid may build up in the lungs, liver, gastrointestinal tract, and the arms and legs. This is called fluid "congestion" and for this reason doctors call this "congestive heart failure".  As blood pressure increases, it can damage the blood vessels of the heart and kidneys and those throughout the body.

Heart Failure Program Highlights

  • Guidelines Directed Medical Therapy Clinic
  • Advanced Heart Failure Clinic
  • Inherited Cardiomyopathies Clinic
  • Amyloid Cardiomyopathy Clinic
  • Inflammatory Cardiomyopathies Clinic
  • Remote Hemodynamic Monitoring Clinic
  • Outpatient Diuretic Infusion Clinic
  • Cardio-Oncology Clinic

Our CHI Health Heart Institute Locations

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Columbus)

4508 38th St, Ste 157 | Columbus, NE 68601

(402) 564-7756

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Mercy Council Bluffs)

800 Mercy Dr | Council Bluffs, IA 51503

(402) 398-5880

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute Heart Failure Clinic (Mercy Council Bluffs)

800 Mercy Dr | Council Bluffs, IA 51503

(402) 398-5544

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Grand Island)

3515 Richmond Cir | Grand Island, NE 68803

(308) 381-8636

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Hastings)

715 N Kansas Ave, Ste 200 | Hastings, NE 68901

(402) 461-5064

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Kearney)

3219 Central Ave, Ste 201 | Kearney, NE 68847

(308) 865-7271

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Lincoln - Nebraska Heart)

7440 S 91st Street | Lincoln, NE 68526

(402) 328-3998

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (North Platte)

102 McNeel Ln, Ste 1 | North Platte, NE 69101

(308) 532-5522

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (CUMC - Bergan Mercy)

7500 Mercy Rd | Omaha, NE 68124

(402) 398-5880

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute Heart Failure Clinic (CUMC - Bergan Mercy)

7500 Mercy Rd | Omaha, NE 68124

(402) 398-5544

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Lakeside)

16909 Lakeside Hills Ct, Medical Office Building One Ste 101 | Omaha, NE 68130

(402) 398-5880

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (University Campus)

2412 Cuming St, Ste 200 | Omaha, NE 68131

(402) 398-5880

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Immanuel)

6901 N 72nd St, Ste 3330 | Omaha, NE 68122

(402) 398-5880

 

CHI Health Clinic Heart Institute (Midlands)

11111 S 84th St, Ste 2119 | Papillion, NE 68046

(402) 398-5880

Are you at risk?


More than 600,000 people die of heart disease every year. Learn about your heart health risk and your heart's real age by taking our online quiz today.