The third annual UConn Health Center Heart Failure Symposium will be held Wednesday, March 20, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain.
This year the focus of the symposium goes beyond heart failure and also concentrates on COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and diabetes.
“Patients suffering from heart failure often suffer from other common diseases that may complicate their care, such as COPD and diabetes,” explains Ann Sakitis, one of the organizers of the symposium. “The program will help nurses address the challenges, transitions and cognitive changes associated with all of these diagnoses.”
Some of the Health Center experts speaking at the event are Dr. Jason Ryan, director of the Heart Failure Center at the Calhoun Cardiology Center; Dr. Raymond Foley, director of the Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program; Dr. George Kuchel, director of the UConn Center on Aging; speech language pathologist Lucinda Brodeaur; and diabetes educator Luriza Glynn.
3rd Annual Heart Failure Symposium
Tackling the Trifecta: Heart Failure, COPD, and Diabetes
Date: Wednesday, March 20
Time: 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
New Location: Central Connecticut State University, 1615 Stanley St., New Britain
Target Audience: Health care professional (i.e. nurses, social workers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, case managers, dieticians, speech therapy, etc.).
Cost: $20 for JDH/UCHC employees, undergraduate students and CCSU staff. General Fee $30. Breakfast and lunch provided.
Registration: UConnLink, 860-679-7692
The conference will also address the role of interprofessional communication in successfully transitioning patients and their families across the care continuum – from hospital to home and all points in-between.
Heart failure affects more than 5 million people every year and is the most common reason people are readmitted to the hospital.
The Health Center has been aggressive in implementing protocols to reduce readmission rates and for the past two years, the Pat and Jim Calhoun Cardiology Center has received the Get With The Guidelines®–Heart Failure Gold Quality Achievement Award from the American Heart Association.
This year’s topic is well-timed since the readmission initiative in the hospital has expanded to looking at COPD and diabetes as well as heart failure. Also, the Affordable Care Act has tied readmission rates with insurance reimbursement rates so lowering readmissions can offer real cost savings for hospitals.
More than 200 health care professionals are expected to attend. “An even greater proportion of attendees are from outside of the Health Center this year,” says symposium organizer Anne Niziolek. “People from all over the state have signed up and they represent all kinds of facilities from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities to home care agencies.”
Follow the UConn Health Center on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
