The Pulse Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program was started by the Prevention Center of Excellence (COE), led by Dr. Uma Krishnan and Dr. Sabrina Shaheen, who have been joined by Dr. Jessica Sturgess. The Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program was developed to educate women to be their own advocate for better heart health and improve access to care for women. The program launched in 2020 and now has nearly 400 patient participants, both men and women.
The initial appointment will consist of thorough visit with Julie Boespflug, Nurse Navigator, who will provide the patient with individual care to include an InBody measurement, discussion of lifestyle modifications for heart health goals, ASCVD risk score and education for better outcomes. The patient is then reassessed in 6 months for an updated InBody measurement, updated labs (if needed) and follow up of heart health goals.
The outcomes show that 85 percent of the women enrolled in the program are now consistently walking more than 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Waist circumference, which is a marker for metabolic syndrome, has improved thereby helping prevent development of type 2 diabetes and achieving blood pressure control mirrors the goals set by the American College of Cardiology.
We now are enrolling patients for both primary and secondary prevention. If you have a patient that is being seen for primary prevention that has two risk factors, or who is being seen for secondary prevention, please refer them to the Pulse Women’s Cardiovascular Health Program, using referral Ref-451 or by calling Julie Boespflug at 253-372-7010.