As always, Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence is focused on quality. We're obliged to recap newly released appropriate use criteria for peripheral artery intervention, of course, but we've also got a troubling look at potential upcoding of unstable angina—reportedly related to AUC released in 2009. In better news, we take a look at significantly positive device news, as well as insight on clinical management of suspected CAD. Read more »
This week, our quality-focused cardiology news brief examines clinical management strategies for patients with heart failure or atrial fibrillation, and also demonstrates the value of precision medicine approaches to care. Read more »
In the haze of the holidays, it may be easy to forget groundbreaking developments from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions earlier in November, and other developments affecting how we measure and address patient risk and quality cardiovascular care. The ACE Quality Matters News Brief is here as a much needed, quality-focused refresher. Read more »
In this week's Quality Matters news brief, two separate studies identify strategies to augment the value and improve outcomes of PCI, saving around $5,000 per procedure, while another identifies a risk factor with a significant affect on outcomes. Breaking news suggests Coronary Artery Calcium scoring identifies patients most likely to benefit from a statin regimen. Read more »
Three very different articles caught our attention as relates to quality cardiovascular care. Lower cost and higher quality are connected when hospitals focus on reducing unnecessary care variations. Accreditation could help with that. Plus, a Stanford University MD calls professional society guidelines into question, and results from a new study land on the side of complete revascularization. Read more »
This week, we take a look at an important issue affecting the quality of care in cardiology and in health care at large—physician burnout. A new meta-analysis provides further evidence that burnout negatively affects the quality of care. We explore some views on physician burnout, and we also ask the question: could quality-focused and supportive accreditation, like Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence, help prevent physician burnout? What does physician burnout cost to organizations? Could artificial intelligence help hospitals manage physician burnout? Read more »
News brief with shocking findings presented at two major conferences, and more recent stories you might have missed. Does MitraClip produce positive results, or not? Should CTCA be the first-line imaging test for stable chest pain? And what "tools and tricks" improve outcomes in PCI? Read more »
This week, our Quality Matters news brief found three articles affecting or related to quality in PCI—and one related to how supportive accreditation can promote positive outcomes. Should 30-day readmissions be used to evaluate PCI? Why is the gender gap in PCI still so wide? And why does the cath lab fail to preactivate for a majority of STEMI Cases? Read more »