Telemedicine allows cardiology programs to improve the quality of the care they provide patients. Applied strategically, it also increases efficiency, lowers costs, increases patient and staff satisfaction and helps medical centers expand their footprint.
A growing evidence base is helping cardiologists make decisions about the optimal duration of dual antiplatelet therapy for certain patient populations.
The American Heart Association’s annual scientific session in Chicago offered insights on the latest therapies and practices, from statin treatments and screening tools to readmissions and communications.
Today’s reimbursement models increasingly require physicians to be cost-conscious. Including cost analyses in trials will help them make good choices.
Talk about a catch-22. Providers need evidence to convince payers that telemedicine improves outcomes at perhaps lower costs, but inadequate or zero reimbursement poses a barrier to implementing these programs.
Imagine, if you will, a tiny heart. This heart, no bigger than a walnut, has some real problems. It belongs to a baby who, without surgery, would never survive. How do you fix it? Where do you start?
