A large, decade-long study of more than half a million individuals linked a history of shingles with increased risk of stroke and heart attack.

Working and speaking together, through professional associations, makes the voices of cardiovascular experts more likely to be heard.

Sometimes the question you’re asked, or the one you heard, isn’t the one to answer—and other lessons learned in the data chasm.

As Medicare undergoes big changes, internally generated scorecards are becoming essential tools for physicians and practices to monitor performance and track progress toward goals.  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) delayed the launch of a new episode payment model affecting three types of cardiac care, pushing the July 1 start date to 2018. That doesn’t mean providers and hospitals should throttle back on bundles’ preparations.

As the U.S. transitions toward new payment models, healthcare organizations are rethinking how specialized postacute care clinics figure into efforts to improve patients’ outcomes and reduce costs.

For all the talk of the need to more closely tie physicians’ compensation to quality care and value, productivity continues to dominate payment schemes. Still, some cardiology groups are finding ways to shift from volume toward value using strategies built off their histories and cultures.

Cardiologist Lee Butterfield, MD, has joined Beaufort Memorial Cardiology in Beaufort, South Carolina, reports Bluffton Today.