An article by Bloomberg News claims that the cath lab at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City has sent patients with previously scheduled appointments through its emergency department (ED), a practice that may allow for uninsured patients’ costs to be covered. The hospital has not been accused of any wrong-doing and hospital officials said they are reviewing issues related to the allegations.

Rounding out a very successful year, Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) reports they have reached record-breaking numbers of accreditation applications for cardiac cath labs in 2013. “Accreditation applications have more than doubled since 2012,” said Mary Heisler, RN, BA, ACE Executive Director. “More labs are realizing the importance of accountable metrics and know it’s time to get started on the quality journey with ACE.”

AccessClosure, Inc., the market leader in extravascular closure devices, announced today an exclusive agreement with Ostial Corporation to distribute the Flash Ostial System Dual Balloon Angioplasty Catheter in the United States. The Flash Ostial System is designed to help overcome the challenges of aorto-ostial stenting and compliments the Mynx® Product Family of Vascular Closure Devices to expand AccessClosure’s portfolio.

Data from a study led by researchers at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute<http://globalmessaging1.prnewswire.com/clickthrough/servlet/clickthrough?msg_id=7563978&adr_order=59&url=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zYWludGx1a2VzaGVhbHRoc3lzdGVtLm9yZy9zZXJ2aWNlcy9oZWFydC1hbmQt%0AdmFzY3VsYXItY2FyZGlvdmFzY3VsYXItc2VydmljZXM%3D> showed marked, long-term improvement in health status in patients suffering from peripheral artery disease treated with the S.M.A.R.T. Nitinol Self-Expandable Stent. The study was sponsored by Cordis Corporation, (Fremont, Calif.), manufacturer of the S.M.A.R.T. Stent.

The Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) announced this week that updated standards for cardiac intervention procedures have been published and are now available for download on the ACE website. ACE updated its Cath/PCI standards to align with the recently published clinical competency document for PCI which includes information on physician training, clinical competency criteria and the updated expert consensus document published in 2012.

ATLANTA—Opportunities exist within many cardiovascular programs to trim out costs and add value. But where? Suzette Jaskie, president and CEO of MedAxiom Consulting, offered five “slam dunk” approaches June 13 at the Cardiovascular Service Line Symposium in Atlanta.

Medtronics Resolute zotarolimus-eluting stent was found to be as safe and effective as Abbott Vasculars Xience V everolimus-eluting stent in a predominantly off-label population, based on the results of the RESOLUTE all-comers trial, presented Tuesday by Patrick W. Serruys MD, PhD, at EuroPCR in Paris. Slides