Pediatric Cardiology Surgeries
Congenital heart disease remains the number one cause of death from a birth defect in the United States. The MGHfC team works with DOCF to address this problem by:
• Providing pediatric/congenital heart care across the left spectrum fetus to adult
• Ensuring all children needing pediatric heart care can receive it, whether that be through providing surgical care for lower complexity cases as well as complex cases in teenagers, or having Boston Children’s handling the more complex for young patients (for example, heart transplants).
• Leading and collaborating in activities that will continually improve patient care regionally and internationally
Freely offering assistance and actively responding to requests for help related to the care of patients with suspected or actual pediatric/congenital heart disease.
$5,000 per surgery is the minimum portion of each surgery that is not covered by insurance reimbursement. The unreimbursed cost for each surgery can be much higher, depending on each patient’s insurance coverage, as well as the severity of each patient’s health situation. DOCF funds unreimbursed surgical costs for 15 pediatric cardiology patients per year.
With timely diagnosis and appropriate treatment, the vast majority of infants and children with congenital heart disease can be saved. Those with more severe heart disease need cardiac surgery or cardiac catheterization for survival. Following these procedures, these children require care in a pediatric intensive care unit setting under the supervision of the team of pediatric heart specialists. The team of dedicated cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, nurses and imaging specialists are trained in treating pediatric heart conditions.
In addition to fully supporting their medical needs, these families also require additional support from child life services, social work and financial services. MGHfC provides a surgical and catheterization based approach to the care of both local and international children with congenital heart disease. These patients typically require lifelong care and return to see the team in the outpatient clinic on a regular basis as they grow into adults.