Hospital in Richmond, IN, Offers Breakthrough Heart Therapy

Reid Health

Many residents in America are fortunate if they have convenient access to one hospital if a medical need arises. Meanwhile, some residents have access to none. 

East Central Indiana residents are lucky. They can receive medical attention from several top health care facilities throughout the region, including Ascension St. Vincent, Henry Community Health, IU Health, Marion Health, Meridian Health and Rush Memorial Hospital. 

Also available to residents is Reid Health, a hospital in Richmond that began using a breakthrough cardiac contractility modulation (CCM) therapy procedure in 2023 to treat heart patients. Reid officials say patients who qualify for CCM are in bad health, pretty much maxing out their other heart improvement options, including no longer adequately responding to medications or pacemaker usage. 

“CCM is a new technology for patients who, for example, aren’t even able to tie their shoes without getting winded or aren’t able to walk a few hundred feet around the house before having to rest,” says Tyler Evans, Reid Health cardiovascular service line director. 

Go Home the Same Day 

Evans says the CCM procedure features a device called the Optimizer, about the size of a small pacemaker, that is implanted under the skin of the patient’s upper chest through a minimally invasive surgery. The Optimizer improves the contraction of the heart by providing precisely timed electrical pulses at certain increments of the day, improving the heart’s ability to contract and allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the body. 

“Patients could have the option to go home the same day after this procedure because of its simplicity and low-risk nature, but some might stay overnight for initial observation,” Evans says. “They’re already feeling better when they go home, and the benefits build over the next few months, with the goal to get the heart muscle beating effectively again the way it should.” 

The hospital in Richmond implanted two Optimizers into patients in 2023, and it’s not necessary for the patients to make weekly visits to the doctor’s office for follow-ups. In addition, no complex medication is needed, although CCM recipients must “charge themselves” once a week at home to make sure the device keeps running. 

“The procedure often improves a patient’s quality of life within three months so they can go for longer walks, work in the yard, maybe play golf, and attend sporting events with their children and grandchildren,” Evans says. “Reid Health is very pleased that we decided to adopt this technology, and our hospital is blessed with good doctors who were open to implementing this procedure.” 

The CCM/Optimizer therapy system was developed by New Jersey-based Impulse Dynamics and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. According to the American Heart Association, heart failure will affect an estimated 6.5 million Americans in 2024.