Passion & Commitment
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C.P. Kaiser, Editor
As we look toward the TCT meeting in San Francisco, I anticipate learning more about interventional cardiology.  It’s amazing what you can learn in a room full of people who are passionate about what they do. But you don’t need to go to a meeting for that experience. Our Stent Roundtable exemplifies that sentiment.  I invite you to “step into the room”, not only to learn from these seasoned interventional cardiologists, but also to feel the passion and commitment each one has for cardiovascular medicine. It’s obvious these men respect the two complementary planes of medicine: patient care and sound business decisions.

For example, some participants feel that stents are a commodity and they seek out the best price. Others realize the differences between stents may be slight, but still make their choice based on trial results. And regarding the transradial approach, you’ll find some interesting dialog including Gregg Stone wondering why this technique is not used more often when it’s so beneficial.

You don’t necessarily need to gather people in one place to appreciate their zeal. A prime example is “Making the Business Case for Cardiac CT (Even in a Recession)”.   This article is packed with insights from physicians and allied staff who are not only experts, but are committed to elevating the level of care and reducing costs. A cardiac CT program requires exhaustive due diligence: Do you have the referral patterns? Will you need extra staff? Extra room? These are just some of the questions to consider to get your program started and headed toward profitability.

Remotely navigating complex EP ablation procedures is moving toward the mainstream. While the evidence is still emerging, it suggests that robotic systems save time, improve accuracy and reduce radiation exposure. Early adopters such as Vivek Reddy, Laurence Epstein and Andrea Natale share their wisdom about where and how robots fit into the EP lab.  New radiopharmaceuticals in PET and SPECT imaging could have an enormous impact on nuclear cardiology. A SPECT agent for heart failure patients looks promising, while research into F18-labeled PET agents is heating up.

Interventional catheters are the backbone of any intervention and today’s catheters utilize new balloon technology and construction techniques that help improve safety and accuracy. Read about some of the latest innovations. Closing the access wound once the procedure is done has received renewed attention. Our sources tell us that the closure device market will take off in the next three to five years. Get all the details.

And finally, with all the money being made available to improve healthcare IT, we’ve got testimonials from half a dozen providers about how their cardiovascular information systems allow them to work smarter, not harder.

I hope you enjoy this issue and I’ll see you at TCT!

C.P. Kaiser, Editor
ckaiser@CardiovascularBusiness.com

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