Providing Echo as an element of a wider Community Heart Failure Service

Echotech currently provides a community based echo service in the West Midlands as part of a wider heart failure service. Delivered from two locations to minimise patient travel time, both local GPs and heart failure Nurse Specialists are able to refer patients with suspected heart failure.

Crucial is the integration of the Echotech service both with the nursing team and local cardiology. Echotech oversees patient administration  and ensures that the patients booked for echo follow the latest recommendations from NICE.  For example, Echo within two weeks for certain groups of patients. The service is not only valuable in diagnosing new cases of heart failure but is also used for routine follow up to assess the patient’s response to treatment.

Echotech uses the UltraLinq web based archiving solution to ensure the relevant healthcare professionals can access study images and reports at anytime from any location with a PC and broadband.