While most physicians agree that transparency is an integral aspect of contemporary cardiology practice, a fundamental disagreement is brewing about the potential benefits and harms of new state and federal regulations that seek to further limit interactions between industry and providers via gift bans and restrictions on continuing medical education (CME) funding. One camp asserts this trend could inhibit innovation, while the other camp contends that stricter divisions are necessary to prevent potential conflicts of interest.

The debate whether industry support of academic activity is appropriate and can be managed effectively has increased over the last several years. While most agree that industry support has been vital to the development of new therapies to treat diseases, there also have been reports of egregious conflicts of interest from all sidesindustry and academia.

IT-based programs can improve cardiovascular disease management and patient empowerment, but must be accompanied by supportive social and political environments and active patient and clinician engagement, according to an article published online Aug. 24 in PLoS Medicine.

If you turn to the back of this months issue, there are two articles in our News & Views section that speak to the state of cardiovascular medicine and its practitioners. The first, More patients seen, but less reimbursement, details the results of a survey that indicate a rise in the number of patient visits with a concomitant decrease in overall profits. Thats not really surprising, given the challenges handed to cardiovascular practices in the last several years.

The Piedmont Heart Institute has hired two cardiologists, David Dean, MD, and David Kandzari, MD, to help expand its cardiovascular care unit.

The latest version of TrakCare, Intersystems' web-based healthcare information system, includes new capabilities for optimizing workflow, harnessing live data and minimizing adverse drug events, according to the Cambridge, Mass.-based company.

GE Healthcare has reportedly gained conditional permarket approval for its Centricity Practice Solution version 9.5 EMR technology by the Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) as a CCHIT Certified 2011 Ambulatory EHR with additional certification for child health and cardiovascular medicine with advanced reporting.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois sentenced Sushil Sheth, MD, a Chicago cardiologist, to five years in prison for pilfering $13 million from Medicare and 30 other healthcare insurance plans over the past five years, after he submitted 14,800 false claims for the reimbursement for high-level cardiac services, which he never performed.