The UNC AFib Care Network has launched a new clinic that coordinates all of the services needed by patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib) in one convenient location.
The new AFib Integrated Care Clinic is now open and seeing patients at 300 Meadowmont Village Circle in Chapel Hill.
“Our new AFib Integrated Care Clinic fills a critical need for AFib patients by helping them build AFib self-management skills and prevent AFib progression by addressing associated comorbidities such as obesity, hypertension, sleep apnea and anxiety. Our goal in this clinic is to help patients learn to live a full life unburdened by AFib,” said Anil Gehi, MD, director of the UNC AFib Care Network.
In addition to the new clinic, the AFib Care Network has created an AFib Support Group that meets quarterly. The network has also launched a smartphone app to help patients with AFib manage their condition.
The smartphone app, which was developed in collaboration with Durham-based Pattern Health, is called “UNC AFib Assistant – powered by Pattern Health.”
“Our whole focus at Pattern Health is to help patients better adhere to their care plan while accelerating the pace of innovation in health care,” says Ed Barber, CEO of Pattern Health. “We are excited to be working with Dr. Gehi and the UNC Health Care team on their truly innovative approach to helping patients understand and better manage AFib. UNC Health Care and Dr. Gehi’s focus on empowering patients through proper education, a simplified approach for episode tracking, and behavior change will make it easier for people to take control of their AFib condition while reducing unnecessary burden on the health system.”
These developments were made possible, in part, by a three-year, $1.7 million grant from the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to further innovate an AFib care model, launched by Gehi in 2015, that reduced hospitalizations for patients with AFib presenting in the emergency room by more than 30 percentage points in its first year.
For more information on AFib and the UNC AFib Integrated Care Clinic, visit the UNC Health Care website at: https://www.unchealthcare.org/a-fib-care-network/. Providers can make a referral to the UNC AFib Integrated Care Clinic in Meadowmont by calling 984-974-2900 (option #1).