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.

TAVR, SAVR linked to similar QOL improvements for intermediate-risk patients after five years
TAVR was initially associated with greater benefits than surgery, but that difference faded by the end of the first year.
$Examples of the messages the Nanox AI algorithms display for incidental findings of spinal compression fractures and detection of coronary calcium. Both can help physicians better understand risk factors or need for therapy in patients through these types of opportunistic screenings on scans being performed for other reasons.$
Routine chest CT often reveals patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, presenting radiology with ‘untapped’ potential
Rads only reported this incidental finding in about 31% to 44% of cases, experts detailed in the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Implementing a same-day PCI discharge pathway boils down to correct patient selection
Safety is key to which individuals are selected for SDD, and there can be benefits to both patients and health systems as this becomes the predominant model of care in elective PCI.
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles unveils new fetal cardiac clinic
Clinic for expectant mothers designed to better diagnose and treat congenital heart defects and heart diseases before birth.
Data registries have been a huge success for U.S. structural heart programs
ACC/STS National Cardiovascular Data Registry metrics reporting for TAVR is important for marketing and care quality, explains Patricia Keegan, NP, with the Emory Heart and Vascular Center.

Big private payer reverses course on cardiac PET/CT coverage

One of the largest private health insurers in the U.S. has gone from considering hybrid PET/CT for cardiac indications “experimental/investigational” to displaying willingness to pay for the modality.

July 1, 2022

Catheter-directed thrombolysis boosts survival rates for submassive pulmonary embolism

The new meta-analysis included data from nearly 10,000 patients.

June 30, 2022

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5 ways to improve care for heart failure patients with limited English proficiency

Researchers interviewed professional medical interpreters, sharing some of the lessons they learned in JACC: Heart Failure.

June 28, 2022

U.S. News & World Report children’s hospitals cardiology heart surgery

The top 10 children’s hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery

The 2022-2023 rankings include some familiar names at the top. Did your facility make the cut?

June 14, 2022

Charles D. Fraser, Jr., MD, executive director of the new Institute for Cardiovascular Health, a collaboration between Ascension Texas and the University of Texas at Austin, including its Dell Medical School. This new, state-of-the-art cardiology program fully integrates all the cardiac subspecialties to create a comprehensive heart team approach in treating patients.

VIDEO: Creating an integrated heart team program in central Texas

Charles D. Fraser, Jr., MD, executive director of the new Institute for Cardiovascular Health in Austin, Texas, discusses the facility's new, state-of-the-art cardiology program.

June 8, 2022

Tablet projecting metaphorical medical hologram

EHR alerts boost care for patients with HFrEF

Simple EHR alerts helped one health system get more guideline-recommended medications to its heart failure patients.

May 31, 2022

Survival on the rise among high-risk pulmonary embolism patients

The study's authors examined data from more than 1.4 million patients, noting that pulmonary embolism response teams appear to be playing a significant role.

May 31, 2022

Treating elderly atrial fibrillation (AFib) patients—even those who are traditionally ineligible for direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs)—with a very low dose of edoxaban is associated with improved outcomes, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open.

LVAD patients spend nearly 1 in 4 days seeking care — is there a more effective way?

The study's authors noted that LVADs consistently lead to strong outcomes, but improvements are still needed to reduce the burden on patients.

May 25, 2022

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Health Imaging

New imaging protocols proposed to curb rise of cardiovascular infections

Eleven medical societies have signed on to a consensus statement aimed at standardizing imaging for suspected cardiovascular infections.

Radiology Business

What does radiology have to do with climate change?

Kate Hanneman, MD, explains why many vendors and hospitals want to lower radiology's impact on the environment. "Taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint in healthcare isn’t just an opportunity," she said. "It’s also a responsibility."

Quality

TAVR, SAVR linked to similar QOL improvements for intermediate-risk patients after five years

Routine chest CT often reveals patients at risk for cardiovascular disease, presenting radiology with ‘untapped’ potential

Implementing a same-day PCI discharge pathway boils down to correct patient selection

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles unveils new fetal cardiac clinic

Data registries have been a huge success for U.S. structural heart programs

Around the web