Joseph Alpert: Specialists Needed for Treatment of Heart Failure

There are many patients around the world suffering from various degrees of heart failure. With such potentially fatal consequences there has been a push to make the condition only treated by specialists.

At the American College of Cardiology's annual meeting there was a debate on this topic between Joseph Alpert, MD, and Maria Rosa Costanzo from the Advanced Heart Institue looked at whether the condition needed such a high level of specialized treatment. Alpert argued that while primary care physicians may not be able to treat heart failure patients general cardiologists should have the knowledge needed to help basic levels of heart failure patients. He did acknowledge that some patients with more severe forms could benefit from the higher levels of specialized care.