2026 HFSA/ISHLT Heart and Lung Transplant Series

This session follows the real-world journey of a patient with advanced heart failure whose condition progresses despite guideline-directed therapy. Presented by three expert nurse speakers, the session highlights the pivotal role nurses and allied health professionals play at every stage of the transplant continuum.

Starting with an in-depth patient case, the seminar explores how nurses identify therapy barriers, engage in patient-centered problem-solving, and support adherence when medical therapy fails. Faculty will then guide learners through the transition to transplant, emphasizing nursing responsibilities in evaluation, education, communication, and cross-team coordination. Post-transplant care is examined through the lens of the nurse coordinator’s role in surveillance, complication prevention, medication management, and long-term patient support.

The HFSA/ISHLT Transplant Seminar Bundle offers up to 0.50 continuing education hours for this seminar, including CME, NCPD, AAPA CME, and CEPTC.

This session provides a practical overview of lung transplant evaluation, focusing on the differences between urgent and outpatient pathways. It reviews candidate selection criteria, common exclusion thresholds, and the role of ECMO in urgent evaluations, along with the structure of standard outpatient workups, including diagnostic testing, multidisciplinary assessment, surgeon consultation, and patient education. Emphasis is placed on coordinated team-based decision-making and preparing patients and caregivers for transplant and post-transplant care.

The HFSA/ISHLT Transplant Seminar Bundle offers up to 0.50 continuing education hours for this seminar, including CME, NCPD, AAPA CME, and CEPTC.

This session provides a practical overview of lung transplant referral criteria, evaluation workflows, and outreach strategies for clinicians caring for patients with advanced lung disease. Expert faculty discuss when to refer, emphasizing early referral — especially for interstitial lung disease — and review disease-specific triggers and objective measures that guide referral decisions. The program also outlines the multidisciplinary lung transplant evaluation process and highlights best practices for collaboration between community providers and transplant centers to improve access, coordination, and patient outcomes.

The HFSA/ISHLT Transplant Seminar Bundle offers up to 0.25 continuing education hours for this seminar, including CME, NCPD, AAPA CME, and CEPTC.

This session examines the lung transplant patient journey with a focus on the design and implementation of remote monitoring and tele-rehabilitation programs for post-transplant care. Using a large regional transplant program as a model, the session explores how hybrid care delivery supports patients who travel long distances for assessment and surgery while maintaining continuity, safety, and functional recovery after transplant.

Participants will learn how tele-rehabilitation is integrated into post-operative care, including patient selection, technology platforms, home monitoring tools, and low-cost exercise equipment strategies. The course reviews typical recovery timelines, outpatient follow-up structures, and multidisciplinary rehabilitation workflows, along with approaches to remote assessment of exercise capacity and physical function. Operational considerations — such as digital access, patient engagement, device reliability, staffing models, and technical support — are discussed alongside current challenges and future directions.

The HFSA/ISHLT Transplant Seminar Bundle offers up to 0.50 continuing education hours for this seminar, including CME, NCPD, AAPA CME, and CEPTC.

This session provides a multi-center overview of the roles and practice models of advanced practice providers (APPs)—including nurse practitioners and physician assistants—in heart and lung transplantation programs. APP leaders from four transplant centers describe how their program structure inpatient and outpatient coverage, define scope of practice, manage staffing ratios, and support continuity of care across the transplant lifecycle.

Faculty compare operational models across lung, heart, and combined programs, highlighting differences in service design (primary vs consult models), readmission management, ICU involvement, billing approaches, and collaboration with physicians, pharmacists, coordinators, and surgical teams. The session also examines workforce strategies in response to rising transplant volumes, including APP reporting structures, use of float and cross-trained staff, bridge roles between inpatient and outpatient services, and development of APP fellowship programs to build specialized transplant expertise. The discussion emphasizes how APPs function at the top of their scope to improve access, continuity, and quality of care for advanced heart and lung disease and transplant patients.

The HFSA/ISHLT Transplant Seminar Bundle offers up to 0.50 continuing education hours for this seminar, including CME, NCPD, AAPA CME, and CEPTC.