New Cardiac Monitoring Program Now Available for Patients at Mercy Medical Center
November 12, 2025SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Pioneer Valley Cardiology Associates has launched the CardioMEMS™ Heart Failure Monitoring Program, an innovative program designed to enhance the management of patients with heart failure by providing real-time, remote monitoring of pulmonary artery pressures. The CardioMEMS™ HF System, available through Abbott, is a proven technology that enables early detection of worsening heart failure, supporting timely intervention and helping to prevent hospitalizations.
Pioneer Valley Cardiology Associates’ Alise Bartolucci, MSN, FNP-C, CCK, AACC, Advanced Practice Provider Team Lead and Lead Nurse Practitioner, CardioMEMS Program, and Mashrafi Ahmed, MD, FACP, in the Cardiac Cath Lab at Mercy Medical Center.
Pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) monitoring is a way to track early signs of worsening heart failure. It involves small, implantable sensor that measures pressure inside the pulmonary artery. The pulmonary artery is the blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the lungs. By detecting changes in pressure before symptoms appear, doctors can adjust treatment sooner to help prevent hospitalizations and manage heart failure more effectively, all from the patient’s home or other location.
The CardioMEMS™ HF System monitor is placed during a common right heart catheterization, typically as an outpatient procedure. After a small tube is inserted into a vein in the patient’s neck or groin, the sensor is guided into place in the pulmonary artery. After returning home, the patient can take daily PAP readings by lying down on a special reader pillow. The daily reading is then transmitted to the cardiologist to help manage the patient’s heart failure.
“By integrating this advanced monitoring system into our practice, we aim to improve patient outcomes, quality of life, and overall heart failure management,” said Mashrafi Ahmed, MD, FACP. “We are very excited to make this program available to appropriate patients, many of whom may have difficulty coming in for an appointment.”
In addition to remote, wireless monitoring of pulmonary artery pressures, the CardioMEMS™ Program also allows for early identification of fluid overload and decompensation; individualized, data-driven adjustments to therapy; and reduced heart failure-related hospital admissions. Patients with NYHA (New York Heart Association) Class II-III heart failure and a history of recent hospitalization may be eligible for the CardioMEMS™ program.