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Developing New Heart Surgery And STEMI Programs

~ This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 at 3:00 am

Posted By Carolyn Weaver, Executive Consultant

surgeryYes, there are still new programs being developed in today’s market. The key driving forces for new program development are community demand and potential cardiovascular revenue. If I were to make one suggestion for any program, in addition to critical planning that needs to be done, the key factor that must be addressed is QUALITY! Case selection is critical in the first year. I always tell my clients to be sure that cases are carefully selected to ensure good outcomes and no mortalities. Many programs worry that there is not enough volume and begin to take cases that  should be done after the  staff has gained more experience. This is not to say that anyone is incompetent, just cautious. We want your program to be a success.

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Aspirin And Cardiovascular Disease - Updated Guidelines And Marketing Ideas

~ This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 3:00 am

asaAs I looked through the information provided by Dr. Melvyn Rubenfire, F.A.C.C.  it brought to mind a strategy that one cardiology group used for marketing their practice. The practice’s name was on two packs of aspirin along with guidelines for emergency (chew for chest pain) as well as daily (of course checking with the person’s physician before starting).

Aspirin patient information can be found at Cardiosmart:  http://www.cardiosmart.org/News/Default.aspx?id=2678

The following are 10 points to remember about aspirin for the prevention of cardiovascular disease:

(more…)

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ABI (Ankle Brachial Index) Predicts Heart Attack Risk

~ This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 at 8:04 am

abiPosted By Carolyn Weaver, Executive Consultant

In case you missed it, presented at The Society Of Interventional Radiology 34th Annual Scientific Meeting is a NHANES (National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey) study that shows including an ABI with the Framingham Risk Score increased the ability to identify those at high risk for heart attack. Here’s to adding ABI to annual physicals and all screening programs. For more info: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/soir-sth022709.php 

Need equipment? We do not have a specific system that we recommend, but your vendors or looking under ABI equipment can steer you in the right direction.

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Posted in Market Impact, Quality, Screening | No Comments »

Quality In The Cardiovascular OR: A Target For The WHO Surgical Checklist Sprint

~ This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 18th, 2009 at 11:55 am

surgicalsprintmap40percent31011Posted By Carolyn Weaver, Executive Consultant

“The Surgical Safety Checklist Sprint: One Test. One OR. In 4,000 U.S. Hospitals by April 1, 2009.”

The goal of the Sprint:  Every hospital in the U.S. will test the World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist at least one time with one operating room team by April 1, 2009. Why not make this a part of your heart and vascular program and use those surgical suites for the test. Some of the sites are shown on the map. For more data, go to: http://www.ihi.org/IHI/Programs/ImprovementMap/WHOSurgicalSafetyChecklistSprint.htm

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Posted in Informational, Quality | No Comments »