Platte Valley Medical Center is hosting three days of ACVP educational events in Brighton, Colorado, including an exciting two-day Cardio Conference February 12-13, and a CCI Exam Review session February 14.

We sat down with PVMC Cath Lab Director Mark Baker, RCIS, MICP, RCSA, CTAE to talk about what's in store.

What motivated you to host?

There's not a lot of education of this type out here in Colorado. They don't have a lot of education that's geared towards Allied Health. In the northeast region in Colorado,  there are not a lot of large hospitals, so getting education in difficult. If there is anything, it's usually in Denver.

What about the upcoming meeting are you most excited about?

I invited physicians that I know from Alaska. Some of the methodologies for care [there] are a little bit different. Having our staff see these different points of view, that's what I'm most excited about. I think it's going to stir up a lot of conversation about how we're doing things now and how we should do them in the future.

From your point of view, what are the important trends in the Cath Lab this year?

I think one of the big things on the horizon is working towards same-day discharge for patient populations for radial interventions. It shortens the patient length-of-stay and lowers the complication rate. It also lowers costs for the hospital. Dr. Kahn is going to talk about radial. (12:30pm, Friday, Feb 13)

We also wanted to look at being more aggressive with stroke and how stroke is treated in the ER. We wanted to look at interventions above and beyond PPA. (Speakers on the topic of stroke care are slated for both Thursday and Friday.)

Do you anticipate drawing professionals from all over Colorado?

We're hoping to get some people from all over Wyoming and Colorado. We've had some folks express some interest to some of the vendors from down in Denver. I think Denver is a place that's hungry for this kind of education.

Do you think the vendors are a draw for these meetings?

When the vendors have new technologies coming out. We're all kind of tech geeks; we all want to be on the cutting edge and hear what's on the horizon. (Dr. Qaisar Khan will speak about Drug-Coated Balloon Therapy at 2:30pm on Thursday, Feb 12, using ACVP and event Sponsor Medtronic's technology.)

If you'd like to host an ACVP regional meeting in your hospital or area, open the conversation, today.