YOUR CARDIAC MONITORING JOURNEY OVERVIEW
Heart palpitations are a relatively common condition that the heart feels. While concerning, palpitations usually are harmless. However, in some cases they may indicate a more serious heart condition, like a heart rhythm disorder, which requires treatment.
WHAT IS ATRIAL FIBRILLATION?
Atrial fibrillation (also called AFib or AF) is a quivering or irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. Normally, your heart contracts and relaxes to a regular beat. In atrial fibrillation, the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) beat irregularly (quiver) instead of beating effectively to move blood into the ventricles.
If a clot breaks off, enters the bloodstream and lodges in an artery leading to the brain, a stroke results. About 15–20 percent of people who have strokes have this heart arrhythmia. This clot risk is why patients with this condition are put on blood thinners.
Even though untreated atrial fibrillation doubles the risk of heart-related deaths and is associated with a 5-fold increased risk for stroke, many patients are unaware that AFib is a serious condition.
American Heart Association. Atrial Fibrillation.
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/atrial-fibrillation.
Accessed Dec 2020.
WHAT IS AN ECG?
Patients often experience heart rhythm disorders without realizing it. Therefore, your doctor may prescribe you a heart monitor to determine if you are having an arrhythmia. Tests such as electrocardiograms (ECG) only allow a doctor to look at the heart’s activity at one point in time and a monitor can capture your heart rhythms over a longer period of time. Until you are diagnosed with an arrhythmia, you may be at risk for future symptoms.
Our monitors capture the heart's electrical signals through electrodes or patches that are attached to your chest and connected to our device. The resulting captured electrical signals show up on an electrocardiogram, ECG or EKG, recording. It is a painless, non-invasive procedure that records the heart’s electrical activity and can help diagnose arrhythmias.
For more information please visit the American Heart Association or The Heart Rhythm Society.
YOU HAVE ONE HEART – WE LISTEN TO ITTM
Wearing the monitor will help with the diagnosis of potential heart rhythm problems when you are outside a clinic or hospital and while you go about your daily activities. By continuously tracking your heart rhythms, doctors are more likely to discover whether an arrhythmia is causing your symptoms, and then determine the appropriate treatment for your condition.
The cardiac monitor continuously records your heartbeats, detecting irregular rhythms and allowing you to indicate when you are symptomatic.
Wearing the monitor will help your doctor diagnose to determine if you are having an arrhythmia.
You are given the monitor in your doctor's office.
During your appointment, your doctor’s staff will present you with a monitor and will instruct you on how to apply and attach it. They may also help you do this for the first time record and transmit an initial ECG recording.
Your doctor has advised us to send the monitor to your home.
It is critical to answer our calls to verify your address, telephone number(s) and current insurance before scheduling your shipment.
The monitor will record your heartbeats. Once you start wearing the monitor, you should be able to go about your daily activities.
If you experience symptoms related to why your monitor was prescribed, press the center button and follow the instructions in the Patient Manual.
Data from your monitor is transmitted to our monitoring center as needed during your prescribed monitoring period.
Certified technicians will review and check for any irregular heart rhythms as directed by your doctor. We will share this information with your doctor.
Our Patient Services team is available to support you throughout your monitoring period and answer your questions.
If you have medical concerns, contact your doctor. If you have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.
Please return the monitor directly to us in the prepaid box provided as soon as you finish your monitoring period.
See return process in the section below.
Reports are generated by Preventice and reviewed by your doctor.
If the ECG shows a serious heart rhythm, we will notify your doctor and may contact you for follow up questions or to provide directions from your doctor. Your doctor will discuss the results with you.
We provide you with a quick and secure way to make payments for your monitoring services.
Click on Make a Payment to provide your payment information.
If you have any questions, contact Billing Department.
RETURNING THE MONITOR
If your are returning your equipment to your healthcare provider:
Follow the instructions provided by your healthcare provider.
If Preventice shipped the monitor to your house, please return the monitor directly to Preventice in the prepaid box provided as soon as you finish your prescribed service. It is important to do so to avoid financial liability.
1. Place the monitor and all charging accessories, into padded pack, then into the box. See the instruction manual for the list of equipment.
2. Remove the adhesive strip from flap on the shipping box and seal securely. The prepaid return label is affixed to the bottom of the box.
3. Drop package off at the shipping carrier listed on the prepaid return label.
For assistance returning the equipment, call Preventice at 888.500.3522