Nearly a quarter of heart failure patients discharged after rehabbing in skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs) are bound to get readmitted to hospitals within 30 days of going home. And those whose stay at the SNF two days or fewer are up to four times more likely to be readmitted than those who stay longer.

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, could lose its Medicare funding if it doesn’t shape up after a recent inspection found serious problems at the institution, The Tampa Bay Times reported.

Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center appointed a new president and restructured other staff after an investigation from the Houston Chronicle and ProPublica found mistakes at the Houston-based hospital’s heart transplant center led to patient deaths.

Is practice variation a real problem or a passing trend? Which metrics matter? Are there practical approaches healthcare leaders should use to tackle variation and, if so, how can they get their teams on board? Cardiologists and administrators weigh in.

In 2017, Anthem implemented a new policy that requires outpatient MR and CT scans not considered medically necessary to be completed at a freestanding imaging facility to receive coverage. This went into effect in several states, sparking its fair share of controversy along the way, and a team of Boston-based researchers wanted to know how such a policy could impact patient care in Massachusetts.

Physicians in fields like cardiology have traditionally looked to clinical practice guidelines to help articulate the best evidence-based care for patients. The rapidly growing movement to value-based care is prompting clinicians—including echocardiographers—to carefully weigh a more focused and integrative approach to delivering consistent, quality medicine: care pathways.

Five electrophysiologists joined Cardiovascular Business editorial advisor Matthew R. Reynolds, MD, SM, for a discussion about how they will deliver quality care to a growing number of atrial fibrillation patients even as the U.S. healthcare system turns its focus from volume to value.