West Virginia Patients Gain Access to Cardiology Telehealth Services

Located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, Mon Health System has announced the availability of cardiology telehealth services to provide patients with customized care while eliminating the need for travel.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 697,000 people died from heart disease in the US in 2020. This prevalence makes it the leading cause of death for both men and women, as well as people of most ethnic groups in the US.

These statistics vary by territory, however. The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources indicated that the state had the highest cardiovascular disease prevalence in the US at 14.6 percent, as well as the highest prevalence of heart attack at 7.5 percent and coronary heart disease at 8 percent.

Driven by the commitment to assisting North Central West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania, and the surrounding region through personalized care, Mon Health has started offering patients in Parkersburg, West Virginia, access to virtual cardiology services.

The driving factor behind this decision was to enhance access to heart care while eliminating the need for patients to spend time traveling.

“The ability to offer cardiology services in the Parkersburg community will allow countless patients avoid having to travel long distances to get their vital cardiac care. It will be essential for this new telemedicine clinic to help patients focus on healing, not the burden of traveling for treatment,” said Bradford Warden, MD, executive director and interventional cardiologist at Mon Health Heart & Vascular Center, in a press release.

Patients with cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, pre-operative risk assessment, and valve disease can access the telehealth services. Warden will provide the services from the Health Heart and Vascular Center office in Morgantown, West Virginia.

“Access to high quality heart care is paramount at Mon Health System. We have made it a priority to enhance and expand our services and we’re proud to provide the patients of Parkersburg with customized cardiac care close to home,” said Karen Friggens, vice president of Mon Health Medical Group, in the press release.

Previous research has indicated a high potential for using telehealth to provide cardiac care.

A study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association in March found that in a population of US military veterans hospitalized for cardiac issues, those who participated in home-based cardiac rehabilitation experienced a lower chance of death within four years.

Researchers came to this conclusion after examining data from 1,120 veterans eligible for cardiac rehabilitation at the San Francisco VA Medical Center between August 2013 and December 2018.

Among those who participated in the home-based cardiac rehabilitation program, the death rate one year after hospitalization was 2 percent, lower than the 4 percent among those who did not participate.