Quality

The focus of quality improvement in healthcare is to bolster performance and processes related to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Leaders in this space also ensure the proper selection of imaging exams and procedures, and monitor the safety of services, among other duties. Reimbursement programs such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) utilize financial incentives to improve quality. This also includes setting and maintaining care quality initiatives, such as the requirements set by the Joint Commission.

doctor patient elderly check up hospital

The top 25 heart hospitals in the United States

Newsweek and Statista have crunched the data and ranked the top U.S. hospitals for cardiac care. Did your facility make the cut? 

Rishi Wadhera, MD, MPP, MPhil, associate director of the Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Center for Outcomes Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Explains a report showing socioeconomic factors are driving increased cardiovascular death rates, especially in younger adults, and urges action to address these health disparities.

Death from heart disease more common in rural areas—what can cardiologists do?

Rishi Wadhera, MD, detailed new data that show how socioeconomic factors are driving cardiovascular death rates, especially in younger adults.

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The average wait time to see a cardiologist is now more than a month

To be exact, the average weight time for a cardiologist appointment in U.S. cities is 32.7 days. This is a 23% increase compared to 2022 and a 74% increase compared to 2004.

Paragonix SherpaPak Cardiac Transport System

Sterile, temperature-controlled preservation reduces long-term mortality after heart transplant by 54%

An advanced preservation system from Paragonix, a Getinge company, was linked to dramatic reductions in both mortality and procedural complications. 

Heart cardiologists doctors surgery

Atrial Fibrillation Centers of Excellence: The best path forward for high-quality care and better outcomes

The world is in the throes of an AFib pandemic, one that could potentially get worse in the years ahead due to population growth, economic hardships and rigid resource limitations. According to the Heart Rhythm Society, one way to effectively combat this issue is the development of more AFib Centers of Excellence.

Medtronic Evolut FX TAVR valve

Oversizing reduces PVL when implanting Medtronic’s newer self-expanding TAVR valves

Paravalvular leak has been shown to impact patient outcomes after TAVR. Higher degrees of valve oversizing, however, can reduce the risk of post-treatment PVL without increasing the odds of adverse outcomes.

Family of heart patient who died awarded $45M after suing health system for negligence

The 55-year-old patient woke up experiencing chest pain one morning and an ambulance was called. He was dead just a few hours later. His family's lawsuit argued that delays in care, communication errors and other issues were directly responsible for his death.

A majority of medical devices involved in Class I recalls were never required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to undergo premarket or postmarket clinical testing, according to new research published in Annals of Internal Medicine.[1]

Quality of care for heart patients does not improve in first year of ACO participation

Researchers tracked patient outcomes through the use of 15 performance measures related to hypertension, coronary artery disease, heart failure and atrial fibrillation.

Around the web

One of the most formidable societies of medical professionals in the U.S. is going toe-to-toe with Robert F. Kennedy’s HHS over changing vaccination recommendations. 

Tom Price, MD, former secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), said one way to address the growing shortage of physicians is to expand medical resident positions, but these are tied to Medicare spending so alternative means may be needed.