New cardiology-specific EHR & diagnostic software suite unveiled

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

In March, the Cardiovascular Institute of the South (CIS), a multi-center and high volume cardiology practice in Louisiana, completed system-wide implementation of a brand new cardiovascular information system.

The cardiovascular information system is a stage 2 meaningful use certified electronic health records (EHR) solution that comes complete with 15 diagnostic test suites across invasive and non-invasive cardiology.

The kicker for CIS? It was designed by two CIS cardiologists, Vinod Nair, MD and Peter Fail, MD with input from their entire team.

Nair and Fail are the chief officers of Objective Medical Systems (OMS) and recently unveiled their cardiology software suite at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session & Expo.

Frustrated with usability and workflow? Try specialty-specific.

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Mitral Valve Repair: “An Opportunity for Quality Improvement”

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

Even in low-volume VA centers, mitral valve repair outcomes best replacement.

A large multi-center study presented at the 96th American Association for Thoracic Surgery Annual Meeting followed trends in mitral valve (MV) surgeries in the Veterans Administration Health System from 2001-2013 and provided further evidence to support the use of mitral valve repair over mitral valve replacement in patients with degenerative MV disease.

"MVRepair has a greater short-term protective effect against mortality than MVReplace has in patients with primary degenerative MR," write the authors. "Despite this survival advantage, the rate of MVRepair is low at some centers; therefore, there is clearly an opportunity for quality improvement."

Beyond a survival advantage, mitral valve repair was also found to result in fewer complications and shorter hospital stays.

Is that success dependent on volume? Not necessarily.

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New Cardiac Imaging Technique Produces Higher Quality Images in Less Time

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

CMR

An innovation in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging eliminates the need to correct images for respiratory motion, producing higher quality, more accurate images without waiting for patients to breathe.

Preliminary research presented at EuroCMR 2016 by Professor Juerg Schwitter, director of the Cardiac MR Centre at the University Hospital Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated how using a modified ventilator and small volumes of air, called "percussions," eliminated the need for patients to breathe during CMR.

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California Regulations to Relax on Fluoroscopy

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

In February, the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals updated members regarding progress made to remove a regulatory burden preventing provision of team-based care in California cardiac cath labs during procedures involving fluoroscopy.

In October, 2015, the Radiologic Technology Certification Committee in California unanimously passed a motion allowing an individual under the direct and immediate supervision of the S&O to use an assistant in the real time movement of the patient under fluoroscopy... (A Step Forward for CVTs in California, ACVP Advocacy)

On April 13th, 2016, the Radiologic Technology Certification Committee (RTCC) of California met with an agenda item to clarify this motion. The amended motion reads:

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