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Cardiac EASE (Ensuring Access and Speedy Evaluation)

Cardiac EASE shortens wait times for cardiac patients and brings those who need immediate attention to the front of the line

Nurse practitioner with patientThe Cardiac EASE clinic (Ensuring Access and Speedy Evaluation) provides patients with timely access to cardiac services. Patients are triaged according to urgency, with the goal of seeing less urgent cases within six to eight weeks of referral. The clinic sees all patients who require a general cardiology consultation, and once each month, arrhythmia patients are seen by electro physiologists.

Currently, Cardiac EASE is located at the University of Alberta Hospital but will move to the heart institute later this year.

To facilitate the appropriate urgency scoring and pre-clinic diagnostic testing, experienced cardiac registered nurses and nurse practitioners (graduate-level, advanced practice nurse) review all referrals as they are received. The clinic's nurse practitioners and/or doctorate-level pharmacists conduct a patient's history/physical and consult with the clinic's cardiologists on a final treatment plan and diagnosis. This is then presented to the patient by the team, and the cardiologist dictates a letter to the referring health-care provider.

The nurse practitioner or doctorate-level pharmacist also provides the patient with education and organizes any further testing. Nurse practitioners also follow up test results and communicate further assessment and testing with appropriate physicians and cardiac experts.

The EASE referral process also may indicate a need for the patient to be admitted to hospital, as opposed to a clinic appointment.

Referral Information
Patients who are 17 years and older are referred to the Cardiac EASE clinic by a general practitioner, family physician, nurse practitioner, or specialist from within the Capital Health region, northern and central Alberta, northern B.C., and Saskatchewan, as well as the Northwest Territories and Yukon.

To refer a patient, physicians may call the clinic at (780) 407-1095 or 1 866-407-1094 to request a referral form. Completed referral forms are faxed to the clinic at (780) 407-1091. 

Contact Information
Once the completed referral form is received by the clinic, an EASE nurse practitioner or cardiac registered nurse contacts the patient by telephone for a brief history, to arrange preliminary tests, and to set a clinic appointment time.

If the patient needs to reschedule, he or she may contact the Cardiac EASE clinic directly at (780) 407-1095 or 1 866-407-1094.

Mail for the Cardiac EASE Clinc may be sent to:
2C2.14, Walter C. Mackenzie Centre
8440 - 112 Street
Edmonton, Alberta
T6G 2B7

Location
The Cardiac EASE clinic check-in and waiting area for patients is located on the second floor within the Cardiology Clinic at 2C2 on the south-west side of the Walter C. Mackenzie Centre, near the waterfall and teahouse. Please see the Level 2 map, for more information.

Parking
Public parking is available at metered, underground, surface, and parkade lots on site. For information on hourly, weekly, and monthly parking, as well as locations, please see the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute information sheet.

Where can I find more information?
Capital Health and other organizations support online resources on angina and heart health.  These resources should be used as a general guideline only. Individual assessment, interpretations, and advice by your cardiologist should always be your most important resource.

For more information, please see:

 

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