Patient Care

This page includes news coverage of various aspects of patient healthcare, including new technology innovations, what is working, what is not, personalized medicine and remote and telemedicine delivery. Find specific news in the areas of Care DeliveryDigital TransformationPrecision MedicineRemote Monitoring and Telehealth.

doctor examines patient data on their tablet

Advancing AI for vascular surgery will require a commitment to data integrity

For artificial intelligence to truly transform care, the healthcare industry must address certain challenges. Jens Eldrup-Jorgensen, MD, a veteran vascular surgeon and member of the Society for Vascular Surgery, explains in a guest editorial. 

HeartBeam, a California-based healthcare technology company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its cable-free, credit card-sized heart monitor that produces 12-lead electrocardiograms (ECGs).

FDA clears credit card-sized heart monitor

The new device was designed to help patients evaluate their own heart health in real time.

Left: Petr Neužil, MD, PhD, head of the department of cardiology at Na Homolce Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic / Right: Vivek Y. Reddy, MD, director of cardiac arrhythmia services at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City

Cardiologists perform world’s first leadless LBBAP procedures with Abbott pacemaker

The first-in-human procedures were performed in Prague with the investigational Aveir CSP leadless pacemaker system.

Boston Scientific recalls more than 200,000 pacemakers after 2 deaths and 697 confirmed malfunctions.

FDA and Boston Scientific issue urgent alert about pacemaker failures following 2 deaths

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the recall notice for more than 200,000 pacemakers because a battery issue could lock the device in safe mode. 

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) programs can lead to significant improvements in patient outcomes after cardiac surgery, including shorter lengths of stay and reduced readmission rates, according to the experience of one North Carolina health system. The team at Atrium Health’s Sanger Heart & Vascular Institute launched the Atrium Health Perfect Care Initiative in 2018 as a way to provide consistent, high-quality care for patients following major heart procedures.

How one health system reduced lengths of stay, slashed readmissions after heart surgery

Remote patient monitoring helps clinicians track heart patients as they recover from major operations. One surgeon described the technology as a "game-changer," highlighting the confidence patients feel when they have "an extra set of eyes on them."  

cardiologists evaluating the human heart to provide a treatment strategy

Cardiologists work to standardize the diagnosis and management of acute myocarditis

New expert recommendations from the American College of Cardiology were designed to help cardiologists, primary care physicians, emergency physicians, rheumatologists and other clinicians deliver the best care possible when managing suspected myocarditis. 

FDA approves J&J MedTech’s Impella heart pumps to treat pediatric patients

Johnson & Johnson MedTech partnered with the Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network to confirm these devices could safely and effectively treat younger patients. 

Robotic aortic valve replacement (RAVR) is a new minimally invasive treatment option for symptomatic severe aortic stenosis (AS) that uses advanced robotic surgical systems. It has already started gaining momentum as an alternative to both surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR) and transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).

Q&A: Pioneer heart surgeon on the development and long-term potential of robotic aortic valve replacement

It's early for RAVR, but the minimally invasive technique has already started gaining momentum as an alternative to both SAVR and TAVR. We spoke to Vinay Badhwar, MD, one of the world’s leading voices in robotic heart surgery, to learn more.

Around the web

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.

"Domestic radiopharmaceutical suppliers, who receive isotopes from abroad, would be impacted by price changes and uncertainty caused by additional tariffs,” SNMMI President Cathy Cutler, PhD, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Department of Commerce this week.