Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center Accreditation Highlights Clinical Excellence, Improves Patients’ Access to Clinical Trials and Specialty Medication

University of Vermont Medical Center’s program delivers hyper-specialized care and locally-driven research on rare and deadly heart-and-lung-related conditions

Local and health system-wide investments in care and treatment for patients across Vermont and northern New York who suffer from a collection of rare, progressive and deadly heart-and-lung related conditions have earned University of Vermont Medical Center’s Pulmonary Hypertension Program national accreditation as a Pulmonary Hypertension Care Center (PHCC) – a designation that highlights the program’s clinical excellence and will improve access to national clinical trials and support groups for patients across the rural region served by the hospital.

The program’s accreditation by the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA) came after a thorough on-site review which found a “coordinated and seamless process” for heart catheterizations, strong inpatient care protocols and robust partnerships and collaboration to support advanced care for patients diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension (PH), as well as less common forms of the disorder.

Program leaders said the prestigious designation makes UVM Medical Center the only PHCC in Vermont and northern New York. The next-nearest center is an hour and a half away from Burlington.

“We are providing a unique service where patients don’t have to drive four-plus hours to get this care,” said Jessica Badlam, M.D. “UVM Medical Center and UVM Health Network have invested in this program at every level, from nursing to pharmacy, and we really have all the bases covered when it comes to patient care – both outpatient and inpatient.”

Badlam became the director of UVM Medical Center’s program five years ago and has been building it up ever since, with support from specialty pharmacist Sean Carpenter, PharmD, as well as a group of cardiac nurses, pulmonologists, cardiologists and research coordinators. The group had two goals: build a rigorous treatment and research program and bring ultra-specialized therapies for PH and related disorders closer to home for a region they have called home their entire lives.

Badlam and Carpenter, both of whom grew up in Northern New York, say bringing treatment and care closer to home for patients suffering from PH represented both an important addition to the hospital’s broad range of services, and a personal goal for them as providers serving a rural region that is home to about 1 million people.

“We’re taking care of patients who are from where we’re from,” said Badlam. “Bringing this program here allows us to give back and provide services to those folks. There’s a lot of personal satisfaction that comes with being able to deliver that care.”

The program’s clinical side serves more than 100 patients. The group’s research efforts, led by Badlam at the University of Vermont’s Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, include ongoing clinical drug trials and studies focused on improving screening, early diagnosis and exploring PAH prevalence in women.

“Delivering clinical excellence and specialized care and conducting research in pursuit of life-saving advancements in treatment and medical understanding are at the heart of what it means to be an academic medical center,” said Stephen Leffler, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of UVM Medical Center. “I’m incredibly proud of our team’s accomplishments and their passion for serving our region.”

In addition to highlighting the group’s clinical accomplishments, the program’s accreditation will improve local access to national clinical trials focused on PH, help expand hospital access to specialized medications and, program leaders hope, help reinvigorate local support groups for patients suffering from PH and related conditions. Carpenter said accreditation gives the program access to PHA patient registries that can be used to enroll local participants in clinical trials and research.

“Accreditation is a big deal for us, especially as it gives us the opportunity to connect more patients with clinical trials and leverage our designation to make specialty medications more readily available both in the hospital and at our outpatient Specialty Pharmacy, reducing the burden on patients,” he said.

Pulmonary hypertension includes a range of conditions that occur when high blood pressure affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart, making the heart work harder than normal to pump blood into the lungs. This can damage the heart and cause symptoms including shortness of breath, chest pain and lightheadedness.

Certain forms of PH – pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) – require advanced treatment and are “incredibly morbid and high-mortality conditions,” said Badlam. While the conditions are rare, there is currently no cure for PAH and have a life expectancy of between 7 and 9 years, even with treatment.

“These are unique and deadly conditions. Getting patients on the correct therapy early-on is incredibly important,” said Badlam.