Lipid Management

EvergreenHealth's Lipid Management offers a unique approach to help you reduce your cholesterol and minimize other risks for heart disease.

As lipid specialists with advanced training in cholesterol management, our pharmacists develop your care plan personalized to your needs following the national cholesterol guidelines as well as recommendations from the National Lipid Association.

With Lipid Management, we will work alongside you and your other providers to achieve measurable improvements in your cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar and weight loss.

What is Lipid Management?

Cholesterol is a form of fat that is also called a lipid. The primary purpose of Lipid Management is to lower your cholesterol levels. It is very important to treat high cholesterol as it can cause fatty deposits in your blood vessels, making it difficult for blood to flow through your arteries and potentially causing blockages. This can impact your heart or brain and lead to heart disease, a heart attack or stroke and even be fatal.

Lipid Management involves strategies to address high cholesterol on various fronts, including positive lifestyle changes and medicine, if needed.

Your Treatment Plan

Your Lipid Management goals are determined by your cholesterol levels and your risks for developing heart disease.

Because high cholesterol levels typically don't cause any symptoms, blood tests called a lipid panel or a lipid profile can be used to measure the amounts of cholesterol in your blood.

Additionally, we can determine if you are at high risk of developing heart disease if you have diabetes or carotid/peripheral vascular disease.

Other factors that might place you at high risk include:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Low High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol levels—HDL cholesterol is often referred to as "good" cholesterol and works to carry other cholesterols away from your blood vessels
• Family history of early-onset heart disease
• Previous heart attack
• Age—males 45 years and older and females 55 years and older are at greater risk of heart disease

We work closely with your providers and develop a plan in collaboration with you based on your cardiovascular risk. These plans typically include changes to your eating habits and some sort of exercise regimen to get you active.

After maximizing lifestyle changes, our pharmacists determine what might be the best medication approach for you based on your cardiac risk, your medication history and your personal preferences.

What Happens on Your First Visit?

Your first Lipid Management will take roughly 45-60 minutes and be spent entirely with the pharmacist.

This initial visit will include:

• A limited physical exam that can include measuring height, weight, waist circumference, heart rate and blood pressure.
• A review of your medical history, medications, nutrition and physical activity.
• A review of any laboratory test results and any additional testing needed to establish your cholesterol baseline.
• A cardiovascular risk assessment.

The timing of your follow-up appointment will vary based on your goals and treatment, but it is typically about eight weeks following your first appointment.

Appointments with the pharmacist will continue at roughly the same cadence until goals are met.

How to Get Started

To enroll in Lipid Management, you will need a physician referral:

Download our referral form for lipid management

Your visit is typically covered by insurance, but you should verify this coverage with your individual health plan.

Once we have received a referral from your physician, we will contact you to schedule your first appointment, at either our Kirkland campus or, if you have an EvergreenHealth primary care provider, one of our primary care clinics depending on what most convenient for you.