Taking heart health data into a brave new world, Duke University is one of a select few piloting Apple’s HealthKit app. Researchers from Duke will be working with heart failure and cancer patients to pilot a program for uploading patient data to the electronic record using HealthKit. 

In a nod to National Health IT Week, the American College of Cardiology asked some of its members to share their thoughts on interoperability. Four cardiologists describe the challenges, benefits and ways vendors could facilitate usage in the ACC in Touch Blog.

When it comes to statin adherence, cost matters. A 6 percent greater adherence was seen in patients using generic statins compared with patients on brand-name drugs, according to a study published Sept. 16 in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Merge Healthcare Incorporated, a leading provider of innovative enterprise imaging, interoperability and clinical systems that seek to advance healthcare, today announced Willis-Knighton Health System, a large non-profit community healthcare organization with four hospitals in the Shreveport and Bossier City, La. area comprising of a 600+ physician network, has selected Merge's enterprise-wide cardiology and interoperability solutions to simplify workflow and advance clinical reporting and analytics. The solution also supports improved documentation for core measures and Meaningful Use (MU) requirements and enables easier access to images, improved patient experience and enhanced business continuity across all Willis-Knighton locations.

If surgeons want to remain relevant in cardiology, they had better be open to change, warned the co-director of a high-volume transcatheter aortic valve replacement center at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific session.

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the U.S. launch of the SEEQ Mobile Cardiac Telemetry (MCT) System, an external, wire-free, adhesive heart monitor that can be worn for up to 30 days to help detect and diagnose the cause of irregular heartbeats in patients.  Medtronic completed the acquisition of U.S.-based Corventis, Inc., which developed the technology, in June 2014.

Women are a minority in interventional cardiology, but they are taking on more complex procedures in urban settings and experiencing a high level of procedural success. Cindy L. Grines, MD, presented these findings Sept. 14 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics conference.

The current climate of healthcare reform has many cardiovascular clinicians and administrators asking what the future holds. American hospitals need to learn to do business differently, but, will it help them survive? This was one of the Leadership Considerations in the Cath Lab topics presented Sept. 14 at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics scientific sessions.