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TOP STORIES

NEJM Feature: Are too many angiograms being performed on patients w/o CAD?

Wednesday, March 10 2010
Slightly more than one-third of patients without known disease, who underwent elective cardiac catheterization, had obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD) out of nearly 400,000 patients at 663 sites, based on study findings published March 11 in the New England Journal of Medicine. However, in an interview, Timothy D. Henry, MD, from Minneapolis Heart Institute, said that when reviewing the study’s data in its entirety, it appears that most practices are performing these procedures properly.

Sebelius asks payor CEOs to justify premium hikes

Tuesday, March 09 2010
Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius has sent a letter to several insurance company CEOs asking them to publicly justify proposed health insurance premium increases.

AHRQ: Weekend/weekday admissions produce variable results

Monday, March 08 2010
Patients admitted to the hospital during the weekend hours are more likely to experience delays in major procedures, be emergency and critical cases and have a higher mortality rate compared to patients admitted during weekday hours, according to a statistical brief conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

U.S. healthcare jobs trend up, despite general employment flattening

Monday, March 08 2010
While non-farm payroll employment saw little change in February (36,000 jobs lost and an unemployment rate holding at 9.7 percent), the U.S. healthcare industry continues to be one of the few bright spots in what continues to be a pretty dismal employment picture.
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Commentary: Atrial fibrillation strikes an electrophysiologist

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.

AHRQ: Health IT could be disruptive while reducing rehospitalization rates, costs

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).

New patient monitoring model draws scrutiny

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.

Commentary: Overcoming challenges with drug-eluting stents

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.

Media-driven quality rankings leave out top-performing hospitals

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.
Latest News

Hospital CEO turnover rate increases in 2009

Industry News | Wednesday, March 10 2010
Hospital CEO turnover increased in 2009, tracking at 18 percent in the U.S., up from 14 percent in 2008, according to the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE).

Circulation: Race, gender disparities persist amid declining rates of AMI hospitalization

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, March 10 2010
While the rates of hospitalization for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with acute MI (AMI) have dropped significantly between 2002 and 2007, researchers found that these rates varied based on demographics, particularly race and gender, according to a study published online March 8 in Circulation.

Circulation: CAD patients RESPOND to clopidogrel after treatment with ticagrelor

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, March 10 2010
The reversible anti-clotting medication ticagrelor can overcome a patient's nonresponsiveness to clopidogrel, according to results of the RESPOND trial published online March 1 in Circulation.

Radiology: CT angiography proves cost-effective in chest pain diagnosis strategy

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, March 10 2010
A coronary CT angiography-only approach -- when factoring in a $20,000 threshold level for cost per correct diagnosis and $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year -- is the most cost-effective diagnostic strategy for the evaluation of patients presenting with stable chest pain without known coronary artery disease (CAD) with intermediate CAD prevalence, according to a decision analysis study published in the March issue of Radiology.

Survey: Large gap exists between insurance coverage, access to care

Industry News | Wednesday, March 10 2010
A survey of 1,022 Michiganders revealed a gap between insurance coverage and access to healthcare, and the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation suggests that lawmakers must focus on closing this gap.

Acist, HealthTrust ink three year deal

Contracts & Installations | Wednesday, March 10 2010
Contrast delivery developer Acist Medical Systems and HealthTrust, a healthcare group purchasing organization, have entered into a three-year contract for the company's cardiovascular injection technology.

Virginia mandates reimbursement for telemedicine

Industry News | Tuesday, March 09 2010
The Virginia State Legislature this week approved a bill mandating health insurers, healthcare subscription plans and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to fully cover the cost of healthcare services provided through telemedicine services.

Rcadia’s CCTA computer-aided detection software nets CE Mark

| Tuesday, March 09 2010
Rcadia Medical Imaging has been issued a CE Mark for its computer-aided detection software--the COR Analyzer system--that helps identify patients with significant coronary artery disease  by an analysis of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) studies.

Intermountain tackles speckle tracking in asymptomatic diabetics

Industry News | Monday, March 08 2010
Intermountain Healthcare will conduct the Speckle Tracking by Echo study, which will use advanced ultrasound technology to determine if asymptomatic diabetics are at risk for coronary heart disease.

Positron sells PET scanner to Ochsner Health System

Contracts & Installations | Monday, March 08 2010
Positron, a molecular imaging solutions company focused on nuclear cardiology, has sold its Attrius PET scanner to Ochsner Health System of Louisiana.

Cleveland HeartLab raises $3M, shakes up leadership team

Executive Announcements | Monday, March 08 2010
The Cleveland HeartLab, a clinical laboratory and disease management company, has received $3 million in fundraising with new shareholders and added to its leadership team.

AIM: Hospice care differs among racial, ethnic groups for HF

Clinical Studies | Monday, March 08 2010
Black and Hispanic heart failure (HF) Medicare beneficiaries are less likely to receive hospice care than white patients with the same diagnosis, according to a study published in the March 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Stentys granted EU approval for stent

Regulatory News | Sunday, March 07 2010
Stentys has received CE marking for its self-expanding and disconnectable stent to treat acute coronary syndrome.

NextGen deploys EHR/PM to N.Y. provider

Contracts & Installations | Friday, March 05 2010
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, has executed an agreement with Prime Care Physicians to deploy NextGen EHR and NextGen Practice Management (PM).

St. Jude’s Trifecta valve nets CE mark

Regulatory News | Friday, March 05 2010
St. Jude Medical has received CE mark approval for the Trifecta valve, marking the company’s launch into the market for pericardial aortic stented tissue valves.

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