Preparing for Your Appointment with the Philadelphia Adult Congenital Heart Center

Before your appointment

When making an appointment, you will speak with one of our administrative assistants, who will review your prior medical history and get you registered into both the CHOP and HUP systems. They will ask you general questions about your cardiac history (if known) and any prior surgeries or interventions.

Please have your insurance information available and ready when making an appointment so we can ensure that any necessary pre-authorizations are obtained and cleared in advance. You will receive a new patient packet to fill out and send back in advance of your visit. We also urge you to sign up for our patient portal MyPennMedicine prior to your visit, which facilitates communication with your care team.

If you have any of your medical records, we ask that you send copies to the office to be placed in your records with us. These include prior operative and clinic notes, as well as echocardiogram, cardiac catheterizations, cardiac MRIs and CTs. Obtaining prior records are vital to your first visit so that we can be as prepared as possible when we see you.

About your visit

All of our outpatient clinic appointments take place at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine building, the outpatient center for the Heart and Vascular Center of Penn Medicine. The Perelman Center is located across the street from CHOP at 3400 Civic Center Boulevard. Our administrative assistants can answer any questions you might have about directions and parking.

Your visit will routinely include an echocardiogram. A sonographer with specialized training in congenital heart disease will perform the test.

The clinic visit will also involve meeting a nurse, nurse practitioner, or a fellow. He or she will gather initial information and return with the attending cardiologist. Our team will then give you our assessment and devise a follow-up plan.

If you haven't done so already, we will again ask that you sign up for MyPennMedicine so that you can get an electronic copy of your records and contact us with any non-urgent questions or concerns. You can also request medication refills or cancel your appointments online through this patient portal.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for any questions or concerns you may have. We are committed to making your visit with us as smooth and as informative as possible.