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Get cleared for your procedure faster
Dr. Garoutte developed the EZ Clear program/protocol in response to the growing need for preoperative medical evaluations in patients who have medical comorbidities. We have developed a robust and comprehensive surgical preoperative service line called EZ Clear. Our goal is to provide pre-op surgical patients with an efficient, focused cardiac evaluation in one office with one cardiologist overseeing the process. If the patient has cardiac issues uncovered during the screening process, we can offer invasive and interventional services, as well. In the past fifteen years, our experience with doing pre-op medical clearances in patients in our middle-aged or older is that we discover treatable cardiac conditions in about 10% of those patients.
Assuming that the patient’s schedule and the testing pre-authorization process is unencumbered, we can generally complete the process within 7-10 business days. Under certain circumstances, we have been able to expedite testing much faster than this. When surgeon's office identifies a patient as a STAT preoperative clearance, we will do our best to facilitate the clearance as soon as possible. Offices or patients with expedited clearance needs are asked to contact our office directly via phone, in addition to sending the referral.
If invasive/interventional treatment is needed for the patient, in most circumstances, I will use bare-metal stents that heal faster and require only 6-8 weeks on blood thinners. Once the patient has had a chance to heal their stent, I will stop the blood thinners and provide a clearance letter
Process & Expectations
- GMA is proud to offer one of the quickest cardiac clearance turn-around times available. However, Dr. Garoutte is unable to clear patients during their initial office visit.
- Dr. Garoutte will not clear patients solely off of EKGs.
Steps for Completion
- STEP 1: Schedule Initial Consultation with Dr. Garoutte
- Dr. Garoutte’s office will contact the patient to schedule the initial consultation & EKG. This initial appointment will allow for Dr. Garoutte or Dr. Fackelman to discuss risk factors and patient history to determine the testing required. If EKG has been completed within the last 30 days, ask about our telehealth appointment (Insurance allowing).
- STEP 2: Schedule Testing During Checkout of your Initial Consultation
- Ensure the testing appointments you select do not have any potential conflicts in your schedule. Failure to make or keep your scheduled testing appointments may delay the ability to clear you for surgery and result in testing no-show fees.
- STEP 3: Testing Appointment(s)
- All testing is conducted in our office by our on-staff technologists. You will likely be required to come in office multiple times for various cardiac testing.
- STEP 4: Clearance Appointment - (Review Test Results with Dr. Garoutte)
- Dr. Garoutte will review results of your diagnostic testing. Upon checkout, if cleared, the patient will receive physical copy of their ‘EZ Clear’ packet which contains the clearance letter, EKG and all testing reports. The clearance letter with all results will also be faxed to your PCP/surgeon upon checkout.
A letter from Dr. Garoutte
Dear Surgical Patient:
Your surgeon or anesthesiologist has requested that you have pre-operative cardiac clearance prior to your surgery. Although perioperative complications are rare, these unexpected mishaps can have dire consequences and may greatly extend your hospital stay…or even be fatal.
Heart attacks, strokes, blood clots and hypertensive crisis are among the most common disorders seen as complications during or after surgery. Therefore, your surgeon or anesthesiologist would like for you to visit our office as soon as possible to begin the pre-operative clearance process.
We are committed to work quickly and diligently to complete the clearance process in an efficient and timely manner. When you call the office, please let my staff know that you are an EZ Clear patient, so that we can streamline your evaluation & clearance process.
Sincerely,
Max Garoutte, MD
Board Certified-Internal Medicine/Cardiovascular Diseases