Volume XVI | Issue 3 | March 2024 | |
HCI's Monthly Review of the Healthcare Industry | |
Robert J. Stilley
President, CEO
HeartCare Imaging, Inc.
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Dear Colleagues –
I was explaining HCI to someone last week when they asked me how we have been able to maintain such long-term relationships with our partner-clients. Without even thinking about it, I said, “Trust.” Over the years, those with whom we work know that we can be trusted in every aspect of what we do. We are experts in the modalities we represent. Once we’re on-site, our partner clients know that their imaging services are second to none and a great representation of their entity. We are cognizant of the pressures facing those we work with and therefore operate on razor-thin margins. This allows our partner clients to provide needed clinical services while building revenue to secure and expand their medical mission. We are transparent in every aspect of providing our services. If there is a problem, we are front and center in communication and action, allowing us to arrive at a quick solution together. Our team members are the best! They are the face of HeartCare Imaging. We trust them to show up every day to provide care for patients in our partner client’s facility. Many work by themselves. We trust that they not only take care of the patients but also handle the many tasks required by the various licensing agencies we work with. Our employees, in turn, trust that we do all we can to ensure that they have the best possible benefits and are paid well for their great work. We’ve won Modern Healthcare's Best Place to Work for seven years. The survey of our employees provided by Modern Healthcare helps us continue to tweak what we do to meet our team members’ needs. Whether it’s a personal relationship or a business relationship, trust is not something that just happens; it’s earned. Over the past 26 years of HCI’s history, we’ve been fortunate to work with great team members and partner clients. I know that we’ve earned each other’s trust, and that’s what makes coming to work every day so rewarding.
We hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter and have a Blessed Easter!
Best Regards,
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Radioguided Surgery Accurately Detects and Removes Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Newly Diagnosed Prostate Cancer Patients
Radioguided surgery can detect and remove metastatic pelvic lymph nodes in patients newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to research published in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Targeting the prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), which is overexpressed in most prostate cancer patients, radioguided surgery can improve nodal staging to guide treatment recommendations for this important patient population.
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Cannabis and Weight Loss Drugs Impact Nuclear Medicine Gastrointestinal Scans
The use of marijuana and new weight loss pharmaceuticals can have an impact on gastric emptying scans commonly used to evaluate patients with gastrointestinal complaints. With the increased usage of these drugs, physicians need to be more attuned to their side effects to perform gastric emptying scans most effectively, according to research published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology.
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Novel PET Tracer Maps Fructose Metabolism to Identify Cardiac and Neural Disorders
A new PET radiotracer can differentiate diseased tissues from healthy tissues based on fructose metabolism, according to new research published in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. Fructose metabolism—or fructolysis—is indicative of a variety of diseases, and by noninvasively mapping fructolysis physicians can more accurately detect diseases and treat them earlier.
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New Method for Triggering and Imaging Seizures Can Help Guide Epilepsy Surgery
Researchers have developed a new method for triggering and imaging seizures in epilepsy patients, offering physicians the ability to collect real-time data to tailor epilepsy surgery. In contrast to previous practice, where physicians from neurology and nuclear medicine had to wait for hours to days in hopes of capturing the onset of a seizure, the new method is convenient, spares resources, and is clinically feasible. This research was published in the March issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
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Coronary calcium scoring predicts when chest pain patients can skip invasive testing
Using computed tomography (CT) to perform coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring can help identify symptomatic chest pain patients who do not require further testing, according to a new analysis published in Radiology.
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FDA approves cardiac ultrasound enhancement drug for pediatric patients
Lantheus Holdings has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to expand the use of its ultrasound-enhancement drug Definity (Perflutren Lipid Microsphere). This approval allows for the drug’s use during sonograms, where Definity is given to pediatric patients with suboptimal echocardiograms to improve the quality of images. Previously, the drug was only approved for use on adult patients.
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Novo Nordisk to acquire biotech company working on new heart failure drug for $1.1B
Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire Cardior Pharmaceuticals, a German biotech company focused on discovering new heart disease therapies, for approximately $1.1 billion. This includes an upfront payment and additional payments that will be made if certain milestones are achieved.
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Out-of-Pocket Insulin Caps Boost Savings -- But Not Insulin Use
While out-of-pocket caps on insulin indeed cut down on costs for commercially insured patients in the U.S., the policies didn't do much to increase insulin use, claims data showed.
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Do Race, Sex Factor Into Who Has Donor Heart Offers Turned Down by Transplant Docs?
Transplant teams showed consistent patterns of denying donor hearts to certain patients after offers became available, based on data from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS).
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Fixed-Dose Macitentan/Tadalafil Combo Gets FDA Approval for PAH
FDA approved macitentan/tadalafil (Opsynvi) as the first single-tablet combination therapy targeting multiple pathways for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), Johnson & Johnson announcedopens in a new tab or window.
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8-hour time-restricted eating linked to a 91% higher risk of cardiovascular death
An analysis of over 20,000 U.S. adults found that people who limited their eating across less than 8 hours per day, a time-restricted eating plan, were more likely to die from cardiovascular disease compared to people who ate across 12-16 hours per day, according to preliminary research presented at the American Heart Association's Epidemiology and Prevention Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Scientific Sessions 2024, March 18- 21, in Chicago.
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Potential novel biomarkers of coronary heart disease discovered
Coronary heart disease is a major global health problem, especially among people with type 2 diabetes. Researchers have identified novel protein biomarkers that are associated with the development of CHD in people with and without diabetes.
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Can Treating Depression Mitigate CVD Risk?
Depression is linked to a significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in women, new data from a large retrospective cohort study show. Researchers suggest that screening and treating patients for depression may lead to a decreased incidence of CVD.
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Nighttime outdoor light, air pollution linked to elevated stroke risk
High levels of exposure to artificial outdoor light at night and air pollution were associated with elevated risk for stroke.
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Sleep Apnea Is Hard on the Brain
Symptoms of sleep apnea, including snorting, gasping, or paused breathing during sleep, are associated with a significantly greater risk for problems with cognitive and memory problems, results from a large study showed.
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Switching to high-deductible health plan increases odds for diabetes-related complications
Adults with diabetes are more likely to have complications if they switch to a high-deductible health plan.The risk for complications rises with each additional year of high-deductible health plan enrollment.
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For People With Chronic Illness, Grief Is a Frequent Companion
The losses that come with chronic illness and disabilities are exacerbated by how few people understand the nature of this kind of grief.
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New health warning issued about the dangers of water bead toys
The absorbent beads can grow to the size of a marble or golf ball when immersed in water. If swallowed, they can cause gastrointestinal blockages.
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Researchers Find New Way to Curb Asthma Attacks
A protein that shuts down immune cells in the lungs could be key to a new treatment for asthma attacks, a new report says.
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Hold off on the Egg McMuffins before GES tests, experts say
Nuclear medicine technologists are being advised that not just any meal works for patients before gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES), a common imaging procedure to evaluate how ingested food moves through the stomach.
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Industrial societies losing healthy gut microbes
Our eating habits in industrialized societies are far removed from those of ancient humans. This is impacting our intestinal flora, it seems, as newly discovered cellulose degrading bacteria are being lost from the human gut microbiome, especially in industrial societies.
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ERs Might Be Good Spots to Offer Flu Shots
New research offers an easy prescription to get people to roll up their sleeves for a flu shot. Just ask them to.
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Hair-Straightening Products Entail Acute Kidney Failure Risk
The use of hair-straightening products containing glyoxylic acid is associated with a risk for acute kidney failure because of the accumulation of calcium oxalate crystals in the kidneys. The observation was made by a team of French researchers who tested the suspected straightening product on animals. The product is believed to be the cause of several episodes of renal damage in a young woman.
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How COVID-19 Treatments Affect Patients With IBD
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapies for patients may need to be briefly halted during treatment for COVID-19, but it does not escalate IBD flares, with prior vaccination for COVID-19 helping reduce complications from the virus.
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Health Care Industry News | |
Tax breaks exceed community care spending at large majority of nonprofit hospitals: report
Nonprofits’ cumulative “fair share” deficit is enough to pay off the medical debt of everyone in California, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania combined, according to the Lown Institute.
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Change Healthcare’s drawn-out recovery catches flak from cyber experts
At least 100 services remain offline four weeks after the UnitedHealth Group detected an intrusion in its medical claims clearinghouse. Experts say the impacts are unprecedented.
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CMS launches model to increase primary care investment in Medicare
Value-based care and physician interest groups said the model should create a more stable cash flow for providers.
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A Bat Infestation, Postponed Surgeries and Unpaid Bills: A Hospital Chain in Crisis
Steward Health Care had gone on a dealmaking spree involving a big hospital landlord and a private-equity firm.
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Elevance to buy Kroger’s specialty pharmacy
Major pharmacy benefit managers continue to double down on specialty as a reliable source of business amid a growing crop of pharmacy upstarts.
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Small, financially struggling providers at risk from Change cyberattack: Moody’s
Larger providers, however, aren’t immune from cash flow challenges, especially if UnitedHealth Group is unable to restore systems by mid-March.
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Healthy Diet Slows Aging and Lowers Dementia Risk
Researchers linked healthier diets to a reduced risk of dementia and a slower pace of biological aging, unveiling the partial mechanism behind this protective effect. Researchers applied the DunedinPACE epigenetic clock to data from the Framingham Heart Study’s Offspring Cohort, revealing that adherence to the MIND diet significantly slowed aging and lowered dementia risks.
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Brain recordings in people before surgery reveal how all minds plan what to say prior to speaking
A new study in people undergoing surgery to treat seizures related to epilepsy shows that pauses in speech reveal information about how people's brains plan and produce speech.
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Novel genetic variants associated with Alzheimer's disease
A new study has identified 17 genetic variants that may influence Alzheimer's disease risk, putting researchers one step closer to uncovering biological pathways to target for future treatment and prevention.
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ALS and Dementia Share Molecular Links
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) share remarkably similar cellular and molecular characteristics despite their different clinical manifestations.
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Lungs Communicate with Brain To Report Infection, Change Behavior
Researchers unveiled a groundbreaking mechanism where the lungs directly inform the brain of infections, altering traditional views on sickness response. This study, conducted in mice, demonstrates that neurological pathways, rather than just immune responses, are responsible for symptoms of illness.
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Senior lawmaker questions UnitedHealth over Change cyberattack
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said UnitedHealth’s “rapid consolidation and vertical integration” has major consequences for the healthcare sector, including increased control of the health IT market.
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‘As fast as possible but no faster than is safe’: Hospitals, tech companies confront AI governance
Regulators seeking to erect guardrails around AI are facing a Sisyphean task, experts said at HIMSS. How do you oversee something that is constantly changing?
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As laboratory-developed test rule looms, experts warn patients may lose access to critical diagnostics
In testimony to Congress Thursday, industry and patient group leaders described the trade-offs expected from increased FDA oversight of laboratory-developed tests.
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Government watchdog warns of Medicaid oversight gaps
The CMS doesn’t require states to report data on outcomes or care denials, and has made “delayed” progress on plans to analyze the information and make it public, according to the GAO.
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House committee advances bill to block nursing home staffing standards
In a 26-17 vote, the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would stop the CMS from approving Biden’s controversial proposed staffing minimum policy.
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HeartCare Imaging, Inc. | Phone: 561-746-6125 | Fax: 561-741-2036 | info@heartcareimaging.com | | | | |
