Organization

American Heart Association


AHA statement: CCTA has triage niche in chest pain patients

Top Stories | Thursday, August 26 2010
With the advent of 64-slice CT, coronary CT angiography (CCTA) exams of low-risk patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain are feasible given the nearly 100 percent negative predictive value of the test, according to a scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA) published in the Aug. 17 issue of Circulation.
 

Analog Devices' tech powers Zoll's PocketCPR

New Products | Thursday, August 26 2010
Medical device company Zoll Medical has selected Analog Devices' iMEMS technology to enable PocketCPR, Zoll’s palm-sized CPR device, to measure the rate and depth of chest compressions administered by rescuers.
 

'Medical necessity' joins RAC review requirements

Industry News | Friday, August 13 2010
To help shrink improper payments, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a list of medical necessity review audits required for its Medicare recovery audit contractor (RAC) program.
 

AHA: Higher MACE rates, costs associated with certain contrast agents

Conference News | Monday, May 24 2010
Major adverse coronary events (MACE) are a complication in cardiac caths and PCI with substantial resource utilization and costs, according to a study presented at American Heart Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes Research in Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke Scientific Sessions in Washington, D.C., last week.
 

ARRS names recipients of Distinguished Service to Radiology gold medals

Industry News | Thursday, May 20 2010
The American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) has named Barry Benson Goldberg, MD, professor of radiology at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and Philip O. Alderson, MD, dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for Health Sciences at Saint Louis University as its gold medal recipients for Distinguished Service to Radiology.
 

Better understanding of thoracic aortic disease leads to new guidelines

Industry News | Tuesday, March 30 2010
New strides in managing and diagnosing the serious effects of the rare, but deadly thoracic aortic disease (TAD) have pushed the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to offer new guidelines for the prevention of TAD, a disease almost 10,000 Americans die from each year.
 

AHA: Offer incremental meaningful use objectives model, add 12 objectives

Industry News | Wednesday, March 10 2010
The American Hospital Association (AHA) has offered an alternative approach for the definition of meaningful use, including the addition of 12 objectives to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
 

CHIME questions timelines in CMS' EHR Incentive Program

Industry News | Thursday, March 04 2010
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is questioning whether the current proposed regulations in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) EHR Incentive Program allot enough time for providers to achieve meaningful use before they are penallized.
 

AJC: Women less likely than men to have calcified plaque

Top Stories | Friday, February 12 2010
In a trial to assess gender differences in coronary plaque composition, researchers found that women presented less coronary segments with calcified and mixed plaque than men and had exhibited lower rates of coronary segments with stenosis equal to or fewer than 70 percent. The study was published in the Feb. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
 

JACC: Absence of coronary calcifications doesn’t exclude obstructive CAD

Clinical Studies | Tuesday, February 09 2010
The absence of coronary calcification does not exclude obstructive stenosis or the need for revascularizations in patients suspected to have coronary artery disease (CAD), based on results of a substudy of the CORE 64 registry data published in the Feb. 16 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 

Cardiac Advanced Visualization: More than Just a Pretty Picture

Features | Tuesday, February 02 2010
Written by Michael Bassett
While the technology behind cardiac advanced visualization (AV) can create some amazing images, it provides much more than just a “wow” factor. Radiologists and cardiologists rely on it to help them increase productivity and workflow and reduce costs, diagnose more quickly and accurately, and better communicate results with referring physicians and their patients.
 

AHA: New imaging agent may shed light on cardiac sympathetic nerves

Clinical Studies | Tuesday, November 24 2009
Research presented at the 2009 American Heart Association (AHA) scientific sessions in Orlando based on the subanalysis from the ADMIRE-HF phase III clinical trial suggested that imaging of the cardiac sympathetic nerves using the molecular imaging agent 123I-meta-iodobenzylguanidine (123I-MIBG, AdreView; GE Healthcare) may be useful in the assessment of risk for cardiac arrhythmias and cardiac death.
 

AHA: Acute heart attack patients’ radiation dose of concern

Conference News | Tuesday, November 17 2009
Acute heart attack patients admitted to academic hospitals average a cumulative effective radiation dose of 14.52 mSv from imaging and other procedures. Researchers cautioned physicians to be aware of the cumulative effect of all ionizing radiation tests, rather than just focusing on the dose of each exam. The study was presented at the 2009 American Heart Association (AHA) meeting in Orlando, Fla., on Monday.
 

Report: Health IT central to healthcare debate

Industry News | Wednesday, October 28 2009
Health IT is taking a central role in the current healthcare debate, according to a report published by the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, George Washington University Medical Center and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
 

Study: Prediatric strokes more common than previously reported

Clinical Studies | Thursday, September 17 2009
Strokes occur in infants and children much more frequently than previously reported, according to a study in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.
 

AHRQ: Consumers want a say in health IT privacy, security

Top Stories | Wednesday, September 16 2009
Healthcare consumers believe they should have a say about the development of health IT systems in order to protect the security and privacy of their own medical information, according to a report prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
 

AHA endorses Extension smart card

Industry News | Monday, August 31 2009
The American Hospital Association (AHA), through its subsidiary AHA Solutions, has endorsed Extension’s HealthID, a secure smart card that holds individual patient data for use by hospitals.
 

JASE: Echo/Doppler method of choice to evaluate prosthetic valves

Industry News | Monday, August 31 2009
According to a new guideline document in the September issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, echocardiography with Doppler is now the method of choice for non-invasive evaluation of prosthetic valves.
 

NEJM: Do benefits outweigh radiation risk in medical imaging?

Top Stories | Wednesday, August 26 2009
Written by Justine Cadet
In a retrospective analysis of nearly 700,000 non-elderly Americans who underwent at least one medical imaging procedure over a three-year period, approximately 20 percent received a moderate to very high dose of radiation, according to data in the Aug. 27 New England Journal of Medicine. Michael S. Lauer, MD, who wrote the accompanying perspective, stated that most imaging tests haven’t yet proven their benefit compared with the potential risks and costs.
 

Texas requires payors to cover heart attack screening tests as of Sept. 1

Top Stories | Monday, August 17 2009
The Texas Heart Attack Prevention Bill, signed into law by Texas Governor Rick Perry in late June, is set to take effect on Sept. 1, and will require insurance companies to pay for heart attack preventive imaging screening tests.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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