Care Delivery

This channel includes news on cardiovascular care delivery, including how patients are diagnosed and treated, cardiac care guidelines, policies or legislation impacting patient care, device recalls that may impact patient care, and cardiology practice management.

Universal heart screening for all athletes? Not so fast, cardiologists warn
Mandates for universal ECG screening are gaining momentum as a way to combat the risk of SCA. However, the ACC warned, modern healthcare systems were not built to withstand such a rise in demand. These mandates will also result in higher costs and other unintended consequences.
Data-based physician staffing stands to save millions of dollars for multi-hospital health systems
A data-crunching method for staffing a key clinical department has reduced physician overtime by 13 hours a day and downtime by 14 hours at a large urban health system. The researchers who tallied the results estimate daily savings at $8,400 a day.
CCTA delivers value, even when treating low-risk patients with no history of CAD
Total plaque volume and total plaque burden can help find patients who may be closer to suffering a heart attack than they realize.
Cardiologist discusses Lp(a), the CVD risk factor responsible for many surprise heart attacks
Cardiologist Nathaniel Lebowitz, MD, reviews the latest updates in lipoprotein(a) awareness, testing and drug development.
Blood glucose monitor instructions updated due to error code linked to 114 injuries
No devices need to be returned or replaced, but the company did want to update their instructions for use.

Johnson & Johnson scraps RSV vaccine after trial

The move comes as RSV has been on the rise in the United States.

Nurses plan to stay in the field, but they want more progress

A total of 80% of nurses plan to stay in healthcare until retirement––way up from the 55% who said the same in 2022.

UnitedHealthcare to cut back on prior authorization paperwork

UnitedHealthcare announced it would remove 20% of its current prior authorizations starting with the third quarter of this year.

FDA approves OTC Narcan for the first time

The medication can reverse an opioid overdose and is a critical, life-saving product now able to be sold directly to consumers in places like pharmacies, convenience stores, grocers, gas stations and online, the FDA said.

Congress aims to crack down on ‘zombie drug’

Xylazine is a sedative intended for animals such as horses and cattle, but it is increasingly being found mixed with strong opioids such as fentanyl.

A list of cardiovascular drugs a patient is taking in a graphical format in the Cardioviso atrial fibrillation patient management application GE Healthcare showed at ACC.23.#ACC23 #ACC

Lawsuit slams PBMs Cigna, Humana as price-fixing ‘modern gangsters’

“Medications shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg, metaphorically or literally,” says Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost “Insulin is just a symptom of the problem; PBMs are the disease.”

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Healthcare groups ask CMS to create hybrid primary care payment option

Twenty-seven healthcare organizations signed the letter to CMS asking the agency to create a hybrid payment model, including the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, AMGA, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the Primary Care Collaborative.

Philips launches new virtual care management services

Philips Virtual Care Management’s protocols connect to devices and engagement tools on a secure, cloud-based network with real-time data.

Care Delivery

Universal heart screening for all athletes? Not so fast, cardiologists warn

Data-based physician staffing stands to save millions of dollars for multi-hospital health systems

CCTA delivers value, even when treating low-risk patients with no history of CAD

Cardiologist discusses Lp(a), the CVD risk factor responsible for many surprise heart attacks

Blood glucose monitor instructions updated due to error code linked to 114 injuries