Welcome to the Cardiovascular Medicine Consult service! We would like to take this opportunity to provide you with information about our service.

  • Nurse practitioners Ellen Langrehr, Kathy Wackerle, or Teresa Lincicum are first call for the service, triage consults and organize rounds. Combined we have 85 years of clinical experience in cardiology, cardiac surgery, and critical care.
  • The consult team meets in conference room F4/521A at 7:30 AM Monday-Wednesday and Friday and at 8:30 AM on Thursdays after CVM Grand Rounds. The day team stops taking new consults at 4:00 PM.
  • When you log in to Health Link, do so under “IP cardiology.”
  • In Health Link under “Shared Patient Lists,” you have access to 2 patients lists: (1) patients currently being followed (“Cards Consult Sign Out”) and (2) all patients for whom a cardiology/HF/EP consult has been requested (“Official Cards Consult Requests”). The latter list is helpful to determine who needs a consult order written (called but not ordered) and if a consult order was written but we have not yet been notified.
  • A paper worksheet is printed for each team member when we meet in the morning.
  • You have access to templates for the initial consult note and follow up note: .cvmconsult and .cvmfubrief. Label the service as “cardiology” and note type as “consult ” or “consult follow up.” For patients with type 1 or type 2 MI or troponin elevation without MI, please use .tropdiagnosis and select the appropriate option. Use of correct terminology is necessary for appropriate coding/billing.
  • Update the problem list on every patient you see. This is a hospital-wide initiative. Also, if relevant patient records are not available, please activate Care Everywhere. If Care Everywhere is not available, please contact the appropriate outside institutions or providers to request pertinent records.
  • As soon as the attending has seen the patient, call the primary team to discuss our recommendations.
  • Offer to write orders for patients on surgical services.
  • In the sign off note, state whether or not the patient needs cardiology follow up; if so, include with whom, when, and where. Ellen/Kathy/Teresa can assist you with scheduling follow up appointments. Verbally communicate this plan to the primary team.
  • If we see a patient who has a UW cardiologist, email that physician a brief summary (2 or 3 sentences) of our consult.
  • Timing of rounds varies depending on the attending’s schedule. We meet in the NP office, H4/580.
  • At the end of the day, we meet as a team to review the patient list and tie up any loose ends.
  • CVM Grand Rounds is held on Thursdays from 7:30-8:30 in G5/119.

Let us know if there are certain types of consults that would be good learning opportunities. We want this to be an excellent and enjoyable educational experience for you.

Again, welcome to the Cardiovascular Medicine Consult team!

Best regards,

Ellen Langrehr, RN, MS, ACNP, CCRN

Kathy Wackerle, RN, MS, ANP

Teresa Linciccum, RN, MS, ANP, ACNP