Adult Congenital Heart Program | Program & Services

The BACH Program provides 24-hour availability, including access to consultation and care. In urgent or emergent situations, we rapidly arrange hospital transfers or urgent office visits as needed. We have outpatient clinic every weekday to provide comprehensive follow-up and consultative care. Prompt communication with our referral providers is a top priority.

Outpatient services

Clinicians in our outpatient service see BACH patients every weekday and are quick to arrange urgent visits if needed. Our providers have clinics at Boston Children's Hospital, Boston Children's Hospital at Waltham, Boston Children's Hospital at Peabody, Boston Children's Physicians Weymouth, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

We provide comprehensive diagnostic testing, offer complete therapeutic interventions, and coordinate patient care with specialty services within Boston Children's or at one of our affiliated hospitals: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health.

Outpatient services include:

• echocardiography
• cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• functional evaluation (exercise testing)
• diagnostic catheterization
• catheter-based interventions
• cardiovascular surgery

Inpatient services

Our inpatient service treats, consults, and admits patients to two separate hospitals:

• Boston Children's Hospital
• Brigham and Women's Hospital

We have the unique ability to choose between two top-ranked hospitals for inpatient care. The decision about which hospital to admit for inpatient care is based on the patient's individual needs.

Our inpatient team is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We work in conjunction with specialists at both hospitals to ensure complete and comprehensive care.

Areas of expertise include:

• aggressive heart failure management
• ongoing care in the cardiac intensive care units
• post-operative care
• cardiac catheterization, including innovative interventional cardiology
• diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension
• peri- and postpartum management in conjunction with high risk obstetricians
• arrhythmia treatment and pacemaker management

Transitioning from Pediatric Cardiology to Life-long care through the BACH team

Patients who have had chronic childhood illness can benefit from transitioning into an adult program designed specifically to meet their needs. Our program for adults with congenital heart disease differs from the standard pediatric model in the following ways:

• Focus on physical aging: Adults are physically aging rather than physically developing. Adults with chronic illness often age at a faster rate physically, and need to be monitored for possible health problems.
• Focus on adult health issues: Health problems in adults are often different than those in children. For example, diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, liver disease, mental health issues, and even heart failure and arrhythmias are different in adults.
• Change in hospital visit dynamics: The dynamics of the visit evolve from a doctor-parent-patient triangle to a simple doctor-adult relationship. This doesn’t mean that family members shouldn’t be included. It just means that the relationship is patient-focused.
• Focus on problem-solving strategies: As young people develop, they move from using emotional coping strategies to problem-solving strategies. Chronic illness often interferes with this development and has been associated with depression and anxiety. Our adult clinic focuses on the importance of integrating physical and mental health.
• Focus on patient education: Our adult clinic works to promote each patient’s understanding of their heart issues, including basic anatomy and physiology and any surgical repairs. An adult clinic also helps patients understand the importance of follow-up, adherence to medical care, and healthy lifestyle decisions.