Virginia Commonwealth University Hospital started using the I Decide: LVAD tool more than a year and a half ago, and Emily Hulbert Baker, RN, LVAD Coordinator was critical to integrating it into the program. She has background as a heart transplant coordinator and experience conducting evaluations for both destination therapy LVAD and bridge-to-transplant. Emily appreciates how smoothly the I Decide: LVAD tool fits into the patient education and consent process and how much easier and more efficient the materials make it to discuss an LVAD with a patient.

“It’s a way to carve out time to effectively explain what this is and what kind of difference it can make to the patient’s life,” Hulbert Baker says. “The data on the tool is really simple; patients from all walks of life and education level can benefit from it.”

Emily also says she appreciates that the I Decide: LVAD decision aid’s video really helps personalize the decision-making process.

“For patients, it’s hearing from a person like them that they can relate to,” she says. “I have seen people make [what turn out to be] bad choices, and I feel like this helps them make an educated decision.”

---

The I Decide: Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD) shared decision-making tool developed by Dr. Dan Matlock and the Colorado Program for Patient Centered Decisions provides patients with simple, concise knowledge and instructions and has been proven to help patients decide whether an LVAD is right for them. The toolkit includes a printed booklet of information, as well as a video featuring first-hand patient stories. To receive free I Decide: LVAD materials for your clinic, email us: LVADdecisionaid@cuanschutz.edu