Medical Imaging Blog

Cardiology

Cardiovascular Medical Imaging in Decline

A recent article by cardio writer Larry Husten confirms what most cardiovascular medical imaging specialists already know: The number of cardiocascular procedures performed in hospitals is going down.

From July 2010 to July 2011, hospital cardiovascular procedures – which include medical imaging procedures – declined 9.37 percent and outpatient procedures declined 6.28, according to a report by Wells Fargo. And this happened during a time when the number of most other medical procedures went up. Moreover, it was a continuation of a steady long-term decline in cardiovascular procedures.

Why the decline? Husten suggests four causes:

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Attention Radiologists: Get Ready for ACOs by Taking the Lead

The very mention of “ACOs” can cause tremors through the medical imaging community, but it’s time for radiologists and other medical imaging professionals to prepare to transition to an ACO care model, said Ascendian Health Care Consulting’s Jef Williams and Shawn McKenzie at the recent AHRA annual meeting.

The Accountable Care Organization or ACO is the creation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) passed in 2010. It’s designed to improve patient care and bring down (or at least control the growth of) medical costs by bringing several types of medical organizations together to meet specific performance targets. Payment will move away from a fee-for-service-based model and toward an outcome-based model, leading physicians and other healthcare professionals to be less “siloed” and more coordinated with other healthcare workers in their efforts to care for patients.

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Note to Medical Imaging Professionals: Play in the Sandbox Together

If cardiologists, radiologists, and other medical imaging professionals don’t play well in the sandbox together, the federal government will make them do so – or perhaps tear up the sandbox and build something of its own devising.

That’s the message of a recent issue of Health Imaging & IT. Ever-advancing technology may have been the bread and butter of medical imaging a decade ago, but now its cooperation.

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Mixed Forecast for Compensation in Cardiology and Medical Imaging Professions

Common wisdom holds that specialists – like heart surgeons, ophthalmologists, and medical imaging professionals – are going to bear the brunt of healthcare reform payment redistribution.

No one really knows, however, how PPACA will impact healthcare reimbursement – or, for that matter, if PPACA will even survive.

Recent research reported by HealthImaging.com points in different directions. On the “medical imaging professionals will continue to see good revenues” side:

Outpatient medical imaging volume continues to increase
Return office visits to outpatient medical imaging clinics is growing steadily
Total patient encounters for cardiologists has increased 50 percent in the past 10 years

Continue Reading: Mixed Forecast for Compensation in Cardiology and Medical Imaging Professions

McKesson CVIS and NCDR Solutions

A recent article in Cath Lab Digest highlights the importance of having a good CVIS.

The National Cardiovascular Data Registry® (NCDR), run by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in cooperation with other cardiovascular associations, is one of the many excellent medical tools made possible by advances in information technology. Participating hospitals and practices send pertinent clinical and demographic data to NCDR, which is then aggregated with similar data from around the country, analyzed, and published quarterly.

Currently, ACC maintains six NCDR registries, although there are plans to add more.

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CVIS and PACS Ending Information Systems Silos

A recent article from Diagnostic and Interventional Cardiology confirms what we at McKesson have known for a long time: that the goal of cardiovascular information systems (CVIS), also sometimes referred to as cardiology PACS, is to replace disparate software systems with a single solution, enabling medical imaging professionals to be much more efficient while improving care.

In the past, the cardiology department would have disparate systems for cath, echo, ECG management, etc. Cardiologists and other medical imaging professionals had to log into each system separately, and in many cases, information and images that were available in one location (like a hospital) were not available at another (like a clinic). To use technical language, the systems were “siloed.”

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Bad News From ASE can give CVIS and PACS Designers Food for Thought

An article in Cardiovascular Business conveys some bad news for the echocardiography world, but it may also stimulate some creative thinking from product development teams around the CVIS and PACS industry.

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Flying High with McKesson’s Horizon Cardiology Solutions

Eric Harrison is a Cardiologist but when talking about his experience with McKesson’s products, he sounds a lot like an airline pilot.

“Much as pilots can command every component of an airplane from their cockpit seat, I am able to diagnose my patient’s disease from a single workstation” because of McKesson’s products, he writes.

Harrison is the National Director of Cardiology at IASIS Healthcare, a 16-hospital system headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Before IASIS implemented McKesson’s Horizon Cardiology combined with Vital Images’ Vitrea Enterprise Suite and TomTec’s 4-D Cardio-View, its cardiologists had to hop from workstation to workstation to see a patient’s cardio images and medical history.

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Cardiology Grants and Fellowships for European Researchers

At McKesson Medical Imaging we’re passionate about cardiology, and we’re also passionate about cardiology education, especially for up-and-coming cardiologists. That’s why we’re pleased to pass on information about several upcoming grants and fellowships from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).

Some application deadlines are coming up soon, so spread the word to colleagues and friends in Europe.

1. ESC Research Grants. Medical graduates and science graduates with cardiology research experience who have not yet obtained a permanent or senior position are eligible for this one-year grant. Applicants should have some medical journal publications to their credit. Application deadline: 15 January 2011.

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Keep Your Knowledge Current with the American Society of Echocardiography

American Society of Echocardiography

Keep Your Knowledge Current with the American Society of Echocardiography

A reoccurring theme on this blog is the highlighting of those associations and organizations that work tirelessly to advance the pursuit of excellence in medicine. We’ve chronicled everyone from the World Heart Federation to the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine and today we’re going to highlight yet another association promoting innovation in the field of cardiology.

American Society of Echocardiography

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