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.

5 reasons not to (solely) blame insurance companies for what ails US healthcare
As this midterm-election year barrels toward decision day, health insurers continue taking punches from both political parties. The piling-on might be as unfair as it is understandable.
How long will we accept patients languishing in the ER as normal? (asks a firsthand witness to ‘boarding’ who’s also a distinguished journalist and an erstwhile ER doctor)
Boarding is hospital-speak for when patients get left in the emergency department, typically on gurneys or in wheelchairs, for many hours—sometimes days—because no inpatient beds are available.
First bedside procedure of its kind performed by traveling clinicians on premature infant
The 22-week-old patient was successfully treated by a traveling cardiologist—all without being transported to the cath lab.
An ‘AI-native’—and lavishly funded—medical center grows in Texas
The largest single component of the overall project is likely to be the high-tech, high-touch hospital that’s now slated for opening in 2030.
Middle-aged Americans who exercise now will enjoy longer, healthier lives later
The more you maintain good physical fitness from your mid-40s to your mid-60s, the likelier you are to add years to your life and life to your later years.

Benzodiazepine use before heart surgery: Should it be embraced or restricted?

Benzodiazepines are administered before a majority of cardiac surgeries to lower the risk of intraoperative awareness. At the same time, however, recent studies have suggested they increase the risk of postoperative delirium.

AI brings cardiology, neurology teams together to boost care for stroke patients

A new post-stroke care pathway from Viz.ai and Medtronic is associated with significant benefits, including higher patient and clinician satisfaction.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shared a new warning about ongoing safety issues with atherectomy devices sold and distributed by Bard Peripheral Vascular, an Arizona-based subsidiary of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD). The warning includes multiple models of Bard Peripheral Vascular’s Rotarex Atherectomy System, which is designed to target high-risk plaques and blood clots in the peripheral arteries by rotating at a high speed.

FDA warns that atherectomy devices are breaking during use—30 serious injuries, 4 deaths reported

More than 100 incidents have been reported so far. The FDA is still evaluating this issue, but the agency wanted to raise awareness as quickly as possible.

artificial intelligence AI in healthcare

Healthcare AI Digest

People are still asking if AI will replace doctors or other healthcare workers.

Healthcare systems are proceeding apace with GenAI—and learning as they go

Last summer more than 40% of 121 hospital executives surveyed said their organization had already realized a decent ROI in generative AI. However, a C-suite slice of nearly the same size said it was too soon to know for sure.

FDA warns that smartphone-compatible diabetes devices may not work properly

Smartphones have made it easier than ever for patients to monitor their own health, but the technology is far from infallible.

Heart failure patients see benefits from home-based rehab

Many heart failure patients still skip cardiac rehab altogether. Offering a home-based option could potentially help reverse that trend.

Healthcare AI Digest

Don’t judge DeepSeek on the innovativeness of its programming. Judge it on the degree to which it shakes up the economics of the AI market.

Care Delivery

5 reasons not to (solely) blame insurance companies for what ails US healthcare

How long will we accept patients languishing in the ER as normal? (asks a firsthand witness to ‘boarding’ who’s also a distinguished journalist and an erstwhile ER doctor)

First bedside procedure of its kind performed by traveling clinicians on premature infant

An ‘AI-native’—and lavishly funded—medical center grows in Texas

Middle-aged Americans who exercise now will enjoy longer, healthier lives later