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Thursday, March 11 2010
ATLANTA—Implementing a blood management program across a health system optimizes blood utilization in cardiac surgery and saves blood acquisition costs, according to a poster presentation featured during the American College of Cardiology Administrators (ACCA) annual cardiovascular administrators leadership conference this week.
Wednesday, March 03 2010
Written by Jeff Byers
ATLANTA – During an education session Wedhesday at HIMSS10, Gregory Oliver, DO, primary physician at Oliver Family Healthcare, shared his insight into how to implement a fully functional EMR in a solo practice and raise profits by 25 percent annually through efficiency and the laddering of technologies.
Sunday, February 28 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.--Matthew G. Hillebrenner, MSE, chief of the FDA’s circulatory support and prosthetics branch, division of cardiovascular devices at the Office of Device Evaluation, spoke to the complications yet exciting progress with identifying how to trial and treat the low-risk operable patient population with trancatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), on Feb. 22 at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) conference.
Friday, February 26 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.—Due to the variety of bleeding definitions used in clinical trials and the potential various outcomes on patients and clinical practice from different bleeding thresholds, Sunil V. Rao, MD, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., argued that the time has come to arrive at a consensus definition of bleeding, at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies conference on Feb. 21.
Thursday, February 25 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.—The Mo.Ma Ultra proximal cerebral protection device (Invatec/Medtronic) used in combination with FDA approved carotid stents in high surgical risk subjects resulted in excellent safety and effectiveness outcomes, according to the ARMOUR trial presented at the annual conference of Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT), Feb. 21-23.
Wednesday, February 24 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
WASHINGTON, D.C.--Obese patients are more likely to be referred for “costly” SPECT testing; and they are more likely to have positive results and longer stays, according to a poster presentation displayed at the annual conference of Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT), Feb. 21-23.
Wednesday, January 20 2010
Bard Electrophysiology focused on flexibility and control at the 15th annual Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium last week as it highlighted upgraded electrophysiology products.
Wednesday, January 20 2010
Hansen Medical highlighted its Sensei X robotic catheter system, which includes the Artisan Extend 3D catheter control and the CoHesion 3D visualization module, at the 15th annual Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium (BAFS) last week. Video: Virtual booth tour of Hansen Medical at BAFS »
Friday, January 15 2010
Asymptomatic atrial fibrillation (AF), compared with symptomatic patients, are more often older and at greater risk for thromboembolism and stroke, according to research presented by John Camm, MD, of the St. George’s University of London at the 15th annual Boston AF Symposium on Jan. 14.
Monday, November 30 2009
Written by Justine Cadet
CHICAGO—Negative results from an automated coronary CT angiography (CCTA) reader may be useful for triaging emergency department (ED) patients, based on a study presented Monday at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference. Conversely, the researchers determined that positive automated results require further interpretation by an experienced reader.
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Thursday, March 11 2010
As endovascular approaches evolve and technology brings more specialties into this arena, there will be increased cross-specialty competition. However, research presented at the American College of Cardiology Administrators (ACCA) conference this week in Atlanta suggested that finding a financial model that works to decrease the competition among physicians providing the same services while ensuring that the patient receives the optimal care could translate to many providers.
Monday, March 01 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
ATLANTA—Disseminating physician scorecards within a healthcare facility can be a powerful tool to drive clinical practice change, if the cultural barriers can be overcome, according to a presentation by an informatics executive from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston Monday at HIMSS10.
Friday, February 26 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.—The age-adjusted in-hospital mortality rate from both PCI and CABG has declined to its lowest level in 2004, according to two separate studies presented at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) meeting last week.
Friday, February 26 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.—David J. Cohen, MD, director of cardiovascular research at St. Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute in Kansas City, Mo., evaluated the economics of drug-eluting stents (DES) versus bare-metal stents (BMS), along with what has recently changed in clinical practice to influence their costeffectiveness, during a session on Feb. 22 at the annual conference of the Cardiovascular Research Technologies.
Wednesday, February 24 2010
Written by Justine Cadet
Washington, D.C.--In late January, the FDA released a draft guidance on heart valve devices—the first in 16 years—assessing the premarket approval and investigational device exemption of the devices. Carolyn D. Vaughan, an FDA lead reviewer, explicated the context and content of the guidance at the Cardiovascular Research Technologies (CRT) conference on Feb. 22.
Thursday, January 21 2010
St. Jude Medical featured its EnSite Velocity cardiac mapping system, designed to help physicians diagnose and guide therapy to treat abnormal heart rhythms, at the Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium last week.
Wednesday, January 20 2010
Boston Scientific presented new versions of its ablation and diagnostic catheters at the 15th annual Boston Atrial Fibrillation Symposium last week.
Friday, January 15 2010
While indications for atrial fibrillation (AF) patients have changed considerably over the last two decades, using certain surgical ablation procedures to treat AF can have a cure rate of more than 90 percent, according to a presentation Jan. 14 at the 15th annual Boston AF Symposium (BAFS).
Wednesday, December 02 2009
One out of five patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) also has significant but silent coronary artery disease (CAD), according to the results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Sunday, November 29 2009
Written by Lisa Fratt
CHICAGO--Modification of the order entry workflow can change physician behavior and result in fewer low-yield imaging orders, shared Vartan Vartanians, MD, clinical research associate at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) of Boston during a scientific session at the Radiological Society of North American (RSNA) meeting.
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Middle age introduces itself in many ways; one is atrial fibrillation (AF). My onset of AF seems to have coincided with a mountain bike accident in the woods of North Carolina that resulted in some cracked ribs.
The use of health IT to reduce rehospitalizations will be welcome but also disruptive, said Stephen Jencks, an independent consultant in healthcare safety during a Feb. 24 webinar on the potential use of health IT to mitigate rehospitalizations, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
A new hospital breaking ground usually isn’t breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.
There are cases presented to all physicians when we have to balance benefits of a particular treatment with concerns around safety for certain patients. In interventional cardiology, we see this dilemma with drug-eluting stents (DES). While this technology provides effective therapy for many patients with ischemia-inducing coronary lesions, there are certain patient groups that encounter problems for different reasons.
U.S. News & World Report and HealthGrades surveys that rank “Best Hospitals” according to their high-quality cardiovascular care do not create the most comprehensive list and may create confusion by excluding hospitals that provide the same quality of care, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.