Hearts at HOME
University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital’s Hearts at HOME (High-Risk Outpatient Monitoring and Education) Program provides specialized home care for infants born with a single ventricle heart defect. These infants require multiple surgeries early in life, and are at risk for complications in the first weeks to months of life, particularly during the time between the first and second heart surgeries. With very close monitoring, children with a single ventricle heart defect can do well at home.
Contact Us
Hearts at HOME Nurse Navigator: 216-844-1234
How the Program Works
UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s is the first pediatric heart program in Northern Ohio to provide parents of infants born with a rare heart defect a smooth transition to home using UH MyChart. The Hearts at HOME team provides families the tools they need at home to ensure the baby is safe and thriving. The program provides a scale to ensure the baby is gaining weight, and a pulse oximeter and heart rate monitor to check vital signs at home. UH MyChart allows parents to submit this important data about their child’s health to the UH Rainbow heart team in real time. The Hearts at HOME program has led to a decrease in the number of emergency room visits and readmissions to the hospital for these patients.
Our Multidisciplinary Team
Hearts at HOME serves as part of a continuum of care from the hospital to outpatient environment, enabling parents to carefully monitor their child in the comfort of home with the full support of the pediatric heart team at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s. A dedicated multidisciplinary team of specialists works closely with your child’s pediatrician and any other specialty doctor that they see. This multidisciplinary care approach ensures that all aspects of a child’s medical care are linked and coordinated.
Benefits for You and Your Child
The goal of Hearts at HOME is to prevent life-threatening events, maximize babies’ growth and development, and provide families with education and support.
Families enrolled in Hearts at HOME benefit from:
- Comprehensive management from the medical and surgical teams that handle the most complex cases, from prenatal diagnosis through treatment and lifelong follow-up care
- Education to support all individuals involved in the care of your child with single ventricle heart disease
- Weekly multidisciplinary clinics that bring together the cardiac nurse, cardiac nurse practitioner, cardiologist, nutritionist, social worker, feeding therapist and neurodevelopmental experts to support your child's overall health
- Reduction in parental stress and anxiety through structured education and support
- Improved quality of life for your child, who can be monitored closely while at home rather than having to remain in the hospital
- Our team's participation in the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC), a national network dedicated to improving quality of life and survival for infants with single ventricle heart defects
- Long-term follow-up following the second and third stage single ventricle palliation surgeries
Your child’s health is important. Get expert care.
To schedule an appointment with one of our pediatric heart experts, call
216-844-3528.
UH Rainbow is recognized as a Level I Children’s Surgery Center by the American College of Surgeons (ACS), reserved for hospitals that meet the highest standards for quality care, safety, staffing, training, data collection and infrastructure. This quality indicator means that we are focused to prevent complications, hold down costs and improve patient outcomes.