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Cardiology at the bedside
Heart failure and arrhythmia drive a large share of avoidable readmissions out of skilled nursing. Our cardiologists round in the building, adjust therapy before a resident decompensates, and keep people out of the emergency department.
What we treat
Cardiology covers a wide range
Every referral is assessed on its own merits. If a resident needs a different specialty or a higher level of care, we say so plainly.
Conditions we manage
- Congestive heart failure, systolic and diastolic
- Atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias
- Post-myocardial infarction care
- Hypertension and resistant hypertension
- Coronary artery disease
- Valvular disease monitoring
- Anticoagulation management
- Cardiomyopathy
- Syncope and orthostatic hypotension
- Pacemaker and ICD follow-up
- Post-cardiac-surgery recovery
At the bedside
What we do at the bedside
What the clinician actually does in the room.
Cardiac evaluation
Full history, exam and reconciliation of the hospital course — with the discharge summary actually read.
EKG in the building
Obtained and interpreted on-site, not scheduled for the following week.
Heart failure titration
Diuretic and guideline-directed therapy adjusted against daily weights and exam rather than a fixed calendar.
Rhythm management
A rate-versus-rhythm strategy for atrial fibrillation, including a clear view of when to stop escalating.
Anticoagulation decisions
Bleeding risk weighed against stroke risk, documented, and revisited as the resident changes.
Portable echocardiography
Arranged in the building where the result will actually change management.
Volume-status thresholds
Weight, intake and symptom triggers your nursing staff can act on before decompensation.
Device follow-up
Pacemaker and ICD interrogation coordinated with the implanting service.
Deprescribing
Cardiac regimens simplified when the pill burden outweighs the benefit.
Care pathway
How a cardiology referral moves
Sequential by design — every step is a hand-off with a named owner, so nothing sits waiting for someone to notice it.
- Referral or post-hospital hand-off. Most cardiology referrals arrive with a resident newly discharged after a cardiac event.
- Bedside evaluation and EKG. Assessment in the room, with the hospital course reconciled against the current exam.
- Therapy plan with parameters. Written to your chart: what to hold, what to call about, what to escalate.
- Nursing thresholds. Explicit weight and symptom triggers, so your staff catches decompensation early.
- Follow-up rounds. Therapy titrated against objective change — not repeated unchanged.
- Goals of care. For advanced heart failure, an honest conversation about what further intervention would and would not achieve.
Settings served
- Skilled nursing
- Short-term rehab
- Long-term care
- Assisted living
- Private residence
Heart failure is the single largest driver of avoidable readmission out of skilled nursing, which usually makes a cardiology round the highest-yield place to start.
Ready to add cardiology to your building?
Send us your setting and census and we’ll come back with a rounding plan.
QMed 