Frequently Asked Questions:
For Veterinarians/Clinic Staff:
Why choose Southeast Veterinary Cardiology?
SEVC is here to serve you and your clients, allowing you to have direct input from a board-certified cardiologist to help you manage heart disease, inside the walls of your clinic - there's no referral to outside hospitals needed! At your clinic, each echocardiogram is performed only by a board-certified cardiologist using the latest generation of portable cardiac ultrasounds (GE Vivid iq). Our goal is to provide you with accurate, timely cardiac consultations, and give you the detailed recommendations you need to manage your cardiac patients long term. You will typically be emailed a detailed report prior to SEVC leaving your hospital - allowing you to address the disease process much faster than telemedicine-based options. SEVC is also available to answer any of your future case questions as they arise during long-term management.
SEVC is the only mobile service where echocardiograms are performed in non-24 hour/general practice clinics by a board-certified cardiologist. With an experienced cardiologist directly performing the echocardiograms and evaluating your patients in-person - the diagnostic, therapeutic, and case management recommendations will be optimal compared to all other services that advertise in-hospital cardiac ultrasounds around metro Atlanta.
How do I schedule echocardiogram at my clinic?
If you have not used SEVC before, email info@sevetcardiology before scheduling a consult to obtain our information sheet about SEVC's service.
1) Please use the online scheduler to reserve a 90 minute consult time. Consultation times/availability will typically be based on your region's caseload. Up to 3 cases can be evaluated in the 90 minute consult time. We will give you an estimated timeframe of arrival, please make sure the pets are dropped off at your clinic at least 1-2 hours prior to this time.
2) Submit each patient's information using the referral form (this is required if you wish SEVC to evaluate that patient). Please read the additional details on both the online scheduler and referral form pages.
**If your patient is unstable (dyspnea, frequent fainting/collapsing, severely lethargic, white/very pale mucus membranes, etc.), immediate referral to a hospital with a cardiologist on staff and 24-hour emergency care is recommended (University of Georgia or BluePearl).**
Do you meet directly with pet owners in my clinic?
Not at this time - to help SEVC efficiently service a large number and area of veterinary clinics, we only provide direct consultation with the referring veterinarian.
The results of all diagnostics performed will be given to the primary care veterinarian in the form of a detailed consultation report, and this information will be relayed to the pet owner by the primary care veterinarian. To further help relay important information about cardiac disease and therapy, client handouts will be provided for many diseases. See below for a list of options if your client prefers a traditional appointment with a cardiologist.
What services do you offer and what are your fees?
**For veterinary clinics only** Please contact us to receive a list of our services and associated fees. Fees vary depending on the service selected.
What diagnostics are required prior to the consultation?
No specific diagnostics are required to schedule a consultation.
If any respiratory signs are present (coughing or difficulty breathing) - Thoracic radiographs (x-rays, 3 view if possible) are strongly recommended, ideally prior to consultation. Without thoracic x-rays, we cannot determine if pulmonary edema (CHF fluid) is present (or not) in the lungs, echocardiogram is not a reliable test to determine if congestive heart failure is active.
Bloodwork and blood pressures can be performed if cardiac medications are being taken or other signs like collapsing/fainting, or arrhythmias are noted.
All pets will receive a brief review of the previous pertinent medical history related to cardiac disease, a cardiovascular exam, and an echocardiogram. Please have historical information readily available and/or a member of the veterinary care team familiar with the case available to discuss history, if needed. SEVC will be able to review records to a degree, but can only spend a short amount of time each case looking up previous history - if an extensive history is present, please have this summarized in the referral form for the patient, or the records printed out at the time of the consultation for efficient review. Without a complete history and current medication information, it is very difficult to give accurate and helpful future treatment recommendations.
Other tests may be performed as needed based on clinical signs or test results. Feel free to send test results for upcoming appointments to referrals@sevetcardiology.com
Will SEVC answer questions about recommended recheck testing?
Absolutely! If there are any questions about the management of your patients seen previously by SEVC, please do not hesitate to contact us. SEVC is not a telemedicine service and does not provide formal interpretation of imaging, however if there are any concerns or you would like Dr. Pogue's informal opinion (via email) on recheck x-rays or bloodwork, they can be sent to info@sevetcardiology.com.
If recheck testing is sent, the patient's information, current medications, and how the pet is doing/reason for the current tests must be included in the email. Given the volume of case consultations, emails that consist of bloodwork or x-rays with no included case information and/or specific questions will not be answered.
For Pet Owners:
What is a board-certified veterinary cardiologist?
Board-certified veterinary cardiologists have chosen to pursue further training after graduating veterinary school. Typically, this includes 1 year of post-DVM internship (if not more) and 3-4 years of a cardiology residency. During this time, the focus of learning is on cardiac physiology (how the heart works in health and disease), cardiac imaging (ultrasound/echocardiography, x-ray, CT, and MRI), and treatment/management of cardiac disease - both with medicine as well as cardiac catheterization. During the residency, the individual must pass two board exams to become board-certified in cardiology by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM). Due to this experience, cardiologists will be able to perform the most complete and accurate cardiac evaluations in your clinic, providing you with the best help with managing your heart-related cases (as compared to traveling ultrasound technicians or non-cardiologist DVMs/specialists).
To know if an individual is boarded in cardiology, look for DACVIM (Cardiology) after their veterinary degree (DVM/VMD).
How is a consult scheduled with SEVC for my pet?
Contact your primary care veterinarian to schedule your pet’s consultation at their clinic with Southeast Veterinary Cardiology; we are a referral-only service. We do not schedule consultations directly with pet owners or do in-home/kennel evaluations.
***As SEVC does not have a clinic of our own and are dependent on primary veterinary clinics for facilitating the consultations, we will only evaluate patients when contacted by the primary veterinarian. We can only evaluate pets at their established primary care veterinarian office and cannot facilitate your pet being seen at a different clinic that we visit. Therefore, if your primary veterinarian is outside SEVC's service area or does not use SEVC, see below for the other cardiology options in Georgia. ***
Do you meet directly with pet owners and discuss findings?
SEVC only provides direct consultation with your veterinarian, we do not meet with pet owners to discuss testing results. Pets are dropped off at your familiar primary care clinic as SEVC cannot guarantee exact arrival times. The results of all diagnostics performed will be given to your primary care veterinarian in the form of a detailed consultation report, and this information will be relayed to each pet owner by the primary care veterinarian. To further help relay information about cardiac disease and therapy, client handouts will be provided for many diseases. Any additional testing (i.e. bloodwork, x-rays) will be performed by your primary veterinarian and SEVC is happy to consult with your veterinarian on any of these pertaining to your pet's cardiology care.
If you wish to have a traditional appointment where you meet and discuss findings directly with a cardiologist, we recommend using cardiology services at UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, VCA Pets are People too, VCA Briarcliff (both VCA use Jonathan Goodwin, DVM, DACVIM-Cardiology), or Blue Pearl.
What are your fees?
Please contact your primary care veterinarian for the cost of a cardiac evaluation by SEVC.
Do you offer OFA certification for breeding dogs/cats?
****UPDATE*** Through the remainder of 2021, SEVC is not adding any additional breeder screening clinics/shows.
For more information, please email info@sevetcardiology.com.
