Getting to the Heart of the Patient Interview: A Focus on Heart Failure (Part II)

A thorough and accurate patient assessment is critical to managing patients with heart failure. In this second post of our two-part series, we’ll focus on volume status and adherence to medications and dietary recommendations. Check out our first post for general principles and an assessment of functional status. A template collection tool is also provided.

Getting to the Heart of the Patient Interview: A Focus on Heart Failure (Part I)

A thorough and accurate patient assessment is critical to managing patients with heart failure. In this two-part series, we’ll provide an overview of the key components of assessing patients with heart failure, starting first with general principles and an evaluation of functional status. Our second piece will focus on volume status and adherence to medications and dietary recommendations. A template collection tool is also provided.

Pharmacists’ Role in Conducting the Cardiovascular Physical Examination

Physical examination has become a “lost art” for many clinicians across a variety of disciplines. Many pharmacists have not had formal physical examination training in school and those that have rarely utilize these skills after completing their training. Pharmacists are poised to employ physical examination in their patient care setting to evaluate the effects of therapy, triage patients, and guide clinical decision-making. This piece describes a general overview of the importance of physical examination and provides readers with a list of tools that pharmacists can use to reinforce prior knowledge of the cardiovascular physical examination.