U.S News and World Report issued its much-publicized hospital rankings, including the 50 top-ranked hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery, and outside of two hospitals in Los Angeles, no other Western facilities made it into the top 30.

Thomas H. Marwick, MD, PhD, MPH, a staff cardiologist and cardiovascular imaging section head at the Cleveland Clinic, will take over the position of director of the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania at the University of Tasmania, Australia. The move will allow him to return to his homeland.

Over the past several years, the practice of medicine has faced considerable headwinds. Likewise, cardiovascular imaging has been challenged on a number of different fronts, ranging from growing public concern over radiation exposure, reductions in reimbursement and increased denials by third-party payors.

Starting this month, California facilities will be required to record dose from every CT study performed. Their peers are watching in anticipation that other states may follow suit.

A cath labs culture plays a key role in staff recruitment and retention. But what contributes to a good or bad culture?

Statin therapy appears to be associated with reduced risk of recurrent cardiovascular events in men and women, but does not appear to be associated with reduced all-cause mortality or stroke in women, according to a report of a meta-analysis published June 25 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. However, the researchers, the accompanying commentary and the editor of the journal all called for more research to be conducted in women.

Exercise echocardiography testing in asymptomatic patients after revascularization identified those at high risk of all-cause and cardiac death, according to a study published June 11 in the Archives of Internal Medicine. But revascularization based on these positive findings did not alter the course of disease or patient outcomes, prompting the researchers to recommend careful consideration before screening asymptomatic patients.

Emergency department (ED) visits increased 60 percent faster than population growth from 2001 to 2008, while ED crowding outpaced the surge in visits, according to a study published in the July issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. The authors linked the increase to a 140 percent growth rate in advanced imaging. However, imaging had a smaller net effect on crowding than other diagnostic tests and clinical procedures.