Prolonged cardiac surgery wait times in Wales are forcing physicians to cherry-pick patients for treatment elsewhere, the BBC reported this month.

The FDA has cleared a series of AI algorithms designed by California tech company Eko to facilitate the detection of atrial fibrillation and heart murmurs.

Forty-two percent of physicians are burned out in 2020, according to Medscape’s annual National Physician Burnout & Suicide Report, and cardiologists fall in the top half of most-burned-out specialists.

Ambulatory care for cardiovascular conditions has improved in the U.S. over the past decade, according to data published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology—but there’s still plenty of room to grow.

As costs continue to rise, healthcare organizations must become more efficient with collecting, says Anthony Cunningham, MBA, vice president of Patient Financial Services at Wake Forest Baptist Health. One approach, he explains, is deploying staff away from repetitive tasks and “toward high-value-add work.” That’s where artificial intelligence comes in.

In the debut of CVB's 2020 Vision series, healthcare administrators talk about the challenges they are facing as new financial realities descend on their patients and practices. It’s out with the old ways of tackling revenue cycle management. It’s time, they say, to adopt a mindset that safeguards patients' financial well-being while also furthering the organization's mission and protecting its margin. 

Here’s how top-performing cardiology programs set a tone that supports leadership and creates a culture aimed at success.

Tread carefully, analysts warn. In the era of value-based healthcare, it may take more than shopworn business strategies to close the budget gap.