A surgeon and a medical device representative accuse Portneuf Medical Center of failing to address an ongoing problem with contaminated surgical tools that left patients with serious infections.

The Amend device from Valcare Medical has a closed ring shape similar to the annuloplasty rings used to treat MR during open-heart surgeries. These early patients will be followed for a total of five years.

Researchers explored data from more than 1,000 patients with calcified coronary artery disease who required plaque modification. IVL and atherectomy were linked to comparable success rates, but adverse events were less likely with IVL.

Cardiac complications after noncardiac surgeries are a significant concern, especially as patients keep living longer and surgical volumes continue to rise.

Initiatives include radiology image reading, data analytics, remote patient monitoring, speech recognition and more. Most of the federation has adopted the standards of the artificial intelligence platform.