Selected low-risk Medicare patients who were discharged the same day that they underwent elective PCI were at no higher risk of death or readmission than patients who remained in the hospital overnight, according to a study published in the Oct. 5 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. In an interview with Cardiovascular Business, the study's lead author added that the same-day discharge strategy, while not commonly applied, may prove cost-effective for some facilities.

Some architects of patient-centered medical home models suggest that a specialist team should lead patient management within the medical home. Others favor primary care physicians. But regardless of who owns the patientand by proxy, the medical homebetter coordination of care is needed.

It takes a village to treat the most complex patient, says Mary Norine Walsh, MD, medical director of heart failure and cardiac transplantation at Care Group/St. Vincents Health System in Indianapolis.

The U.K.s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended ambulatory blood pressure monitoring for patients with a raised blood pressure. The addition comes after a modeling study, published Aug. 24 in The Lancet, found that ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was a cost-effective strategy for men and women across all age groups, providing both savings and improvement in quality of life. An accompanying editorial agreed that improved diagnosis offsets the additional cost of ambulatory monitoring and added that changing assumptions in the model might show even more cost savings.

Paul N. Casale, MD, recommends that providers prepare for a new healthcare payment model in the U.S. that rewards value over volume.

Pfizer is looking to introduce an over-the-counter version of its blockbuster cholesterol pill Lipitor (atorvastatin) that could be purchased without a doctors prescription, according to a report released today by the Wall Street Journal. The move could help the company retain revenues for the drug, after Lipitors patent is set to expire this November. Last year, the blockbuster's sales soared to $11 billion.

Creating initiatives that enhance primordial and primary prevention strategies on a national level would help prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD) before it begins, according to an American Heart Association (AHA) policy statement published online July 25 in Circulation. While costs have often been a deterrent to implementing these types of programs, AHA said imparting community-based changes is a good long-term investment to improve the populations health.

As top U.S. blockbuster drugs' patents begin expiring, healthcare may see a dip in bills through the purchase of cheaper, generic drugs. Pharmaceutical companies will undergo tough times when patent expiries occur for big brand name drugs like Plavix (clopidogrel) and Lipitor (atorvastatin), and patents on branded drugs valued at $133 billion expire within the next six years, according to EvaluatePharma, a London-based research firm.