Arrhythmia Associates LLP

Visit Us - Types of Visits

Types of Visits

Consultation Visit

At Arrhythmia Associates, we allocate a full hour for all new patient consultations. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your office visit in order to complete any necessary office paperwork in preparation for your visit. Prior to your consultation, our office will try to obtain all relevant tests from your referring physicians. We may ask you to assist us in this process by bringing any additional materials to your initial visit for our review. We recommend that you bring all of your current medications (in the prescription bottles) with you so that we have the most accurate information about you.

During this consultation visit, we will take a thorough history and physical. We will answer all of your questions and make additional recommendations to clarify your diagnosis and initiate appropriate treatment. If you have specific questions, it is often a good idea to write them down and bring them to this office visit so that we can make sure that all of your questions and/or concerns are appropriately addressed. At the conclusion of your initial consultation, your physician at Arrhythmia Associates will clearly explain any future tests and our plans for treatment of your arrhythmia.

Office Visit

Please arrive 15 minutes prior to your office visit in order to complete any necessary paperwork in preparation for your visit. In general, we allocate 20-30 minutes for routine follow-up appointments for patients with arrhythmias. If we have not seen you for more than a year, we may allocate more time to review your interval history. All questions will be answered. This is a good time to obtain any prescription refills for medications that our physicians have prescribed. At the conclusion of an office visit, your physician at Arrhythmia Associate will clearly explain any future tests and our plans for further treatment of your arrhythmia.

Routine Device (ICD or pacemaker) Follow-Up

Routine device follow up typically occurs every 3 months in our office for ICD management and every 6-12 months for pacemaker management. You will see either a physician from Arrhythmia Associates or one of our physician assistants who work directly with the physician that is present in the office that day. Our nurses will ask you to clarify any medication changes from your last visit and obtain an electrocardiogram. You will then be connected by wires to a machine designed to communicate through your skin with your pacemaker/ICD. During this office visit, we will perform a relevant history and physical examination and we will then evaluate your pacemaker/ICD. If the device is functioning normally, we will then schedule your next visit with us. For most pacemakers and some ICDs, we are able to test the basic functions of the machine by telephone. This is called "trans-telephonic" interrogation. We will teach you how to do this and provide you a schedule of future "telephone visits" with our cardiovascular technicians, Mario and Teddy.