HCI's Monthly Review of the Healthcare Industry |
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Robert J. Stilley
President, CEO
HeartCare Imaging, Inc.
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Dear Colleagues –
At HCI we have 5 core values that we follow. In this month’s newsletter, I’d like to discuss HCI Core Value #4 – We will not be deterred - we always compete aggressively · never say we can’t · set high goals · we will overcome major obstacles; they are merely bumps in the road · we will vigorously fight to win against industry giants.
If you watch or listen to the news you are being bombarded by a 24/7 message of how bad things are. So, during this challenging time, I remind myself to focus on the ‘Big Picture’ and not the ‘crisis of the day’. Inflationary price increases, shortage of personnel, and supply chain issues seem to bring new difficulties each day. But, as I’ve said before, our predecessors have faced trials and tribulations much more daunting than what we’re going through today. The key is to learn from the past and use our collective knowledge to find ways to succeed…and look at the challenges as opportunities. Not too long ago, I told my colleagues that it seemed that we did well during tough times. I’m sure our success during trying times has a lot to do with having the right attitude. Our team focuses on finding solutions instead of getting fixated on the obstacle. For instance, after the initial shock and business contraction from the pandemic our footprint across the USA has grown significantly. We were able to accomplish this expansion by working with our partner-clients to find ways to expand services for patients instead of giving up. We’ve been able to manage expenses, find incredible new talent, and ensure product was available to get the job done. It hasn’t been easy but that has not stopped us! So, even with these latest challenges, we’re positioned to do what is right for our partner-clients by providing services that help their patients while providing needed revenue to help them fund services in other needed areas. We will always be here to help no matter if times are easy or tough. We like the phrase…tough times don’t last but tough people do!
I hope you enjoy this month’s newsletter.
Best regards,
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Advocacy Win: Aetna Reverses Cardiac PET/CT Non-coverage Policy |
ASNC is pleased to report that Aetna has reversed its policy of non-coverage for cardiac PET/CT. The payer's policy change followed receipt of a joint letter from ASNC and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).
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Improving Lipid Testing Worldwide |
A novel partnership between AACC and CDC relies on point-of-care testing to improve global health.
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Predicting the impact of new heart attack medications |
Researchers have developed a new mathematical model for predicting the effect of new myocardial infarction medications, sharing their findings in the Journal of Theoretical Biology
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New data highlights the continued importance of COVID-19 vaccines for CVD patients |
A recent Cardiovascular Research study found no association between two COVID-19 vaccines—BNT162b2 and CoronaVac, both authorized for emergency use in Hong Kong—and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with existing cardiovascular disease.
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Walking 10,000 Steps Lowers Death Risk in Diabetes Patients: Study |
Walking 10,000 steps per day may reduce the risk of death for those that have trouble regulating their blood sugar, according to the findings from a new study of almost 1,700 American adults with prediabetes or diabetes.
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Nuclear stress tests provide significant value when treating CAD |
For some patients with myocardial ischemia—obstructed blood flow to the heart—it can be difficult for physicians to decide whether coronary revascularization through bypass surgery or angioplasty is the best treatment option. Now, a new Mount Sinai study shows that nuclear stress tests may provide some much-needed context.
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Advanced Dilated, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Have Similar Transcriptional Profiles, Study Finds |
The transcriptional profiles of dilated cardiomyopathy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy converge in advanced disease, a new single-nucleus analysis conducted by a Broad Institute-led team has found.
Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) both cause heart failure, though differ in their presentations. DCM is marked by dilation of the left ventricle and systolic dysfunction, while HCM is characterized by a thickening of the left ventricle wall and is often linked to genetic alterations in sarcomere genes.
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Coronary Artery Disease Genetic Risk Scores Show Limited Value in New Study |
While the use of genetic risk scores for cardiovascular (CV) risk factors do not improve patient risk stratification over validated clinical tools, they may have use in screening individuals prior to the development of conventional risk factors, according to a study appearing in this week's Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.
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The AHA’s Updated Heart Health Checklist Now Includes Sleep |
New recommendations from the American Heart Association add sleep duration to the list of factors — like getting enough exercise and not smoking — you can manage to promote cardiovascular health.
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Pig heart transplants in humans show signs of success |
In the past month, researchers transplanted pig hearts into two people who had suffered catastrophic heart failure and were left brain dead but remained on life support.
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Lower Parasympathetic Activation And Depression Linked To Poor Glycemic Control In Diabetics |
In patients with Type 2 diabetes, lower parasympathetic activation and higher depressive symptoms affected the Glycemic control as per a recent study that was published in "Journal of Diabetes and its commplications, 2022"
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AFib after surgery could be a warning sign of heart failure |
Patients who develop atrial fibrillation (AFib) after surgery face a higher risk of being hospitalized for heart failure, according to new data published in the European Heart Journal.
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Thigh Muscle Fat Predicts Risk of Developing Heart Failure |
A higher level of intramuscular fat infiltration in the thighs was associated with a higher risk of developing heart failure, in a new study. The association was independent of other cardiometabolic risk factors and measures of adiposity such as body mass index.
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Innovative lung-imaging technique shows cause of long COVID symptoms |
Many who experience what is now called "long COVID" report feeling brain fog, breathless, fatigued and limited in doing everyday things, often lasting weeks and months post-infection. Using functional MRI with inhaled xenon gas, researchers have now identified for the first time that these debilitating symptoms are related to microscopic abnormalities that affect how oxygen is exchanged from the lungs to the red blood cells.
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PSMA PET scans a major focus in prostate cancer research |
Matthew Zibelman, MD, associate professor at the department of hematology/oncology at Temple University Fox Chase Cancer Center, discusses some of the more consequential studies on prostate cancer at ASCO Annual Meeting.
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New Study Shows Link Between COVID-19 and Elevated Risks for Neurological Disorders |
Emerging research showed that patients with COVID-19 had 3.5 times the risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease and 2.6 times the risk for Parkinson’s disease in comparison to those who did not have COVID-19.
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Delayed Gastric Emptying May Affect a Subset of Patients With Eosinophilic Esophagitis |
In the study, which was published online ahead of publication in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, researchers analyzed gastric emptying nuclear medicine studies of patients with symptoms of EoE, such as early satiety, fullness, bloating, reflux, weight loss, or non-response to therapy. A total of 84 patients with EoE were eligible and had scans available for analysis.
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Endocrine Society Issues New Guidelines for Hospitalized Patients With Diabetes |
The Endocrine Society has updated their guideline for the management of hospitalized patients with diabetes or stress-induced hyperglycemia. Adult patients with diabetes or newly recognized hyperglycemia account for greater than 30% of noncritically ill hospitalized patients. These patients are at increased risk for “adverse clinical outcomes in the absence of defined approaches to glycemic management,” as described in Management of Hyperglycemia in Hospitalized Patients in Non-Critical Care Settings: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline, which was published online in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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Study Tracks Clinical Decision Support Impacts on BRCA1/2 Testing in Primary Care Setting |
With a randomized clinical trial that included dozens of clinicians and nearly 190 patients, investigators at Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and elsewhere looked at genetic counseling and BRCA1/2 genetic test uptake in asymptomatic women between the ages of 21 and 75 years old in response to standard education approaches or in a setting that included clinician and patient decision support tools.
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Radiopharmaceuticals gain traction for cancer theranostics potential |
After decades of neglect from big pharma, radiopharmaceuticals are generating major oncology deals globally. This could lead to a boom in cancer drugs that can serve as both treatments and diagnostics, or “theranostics.”
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ECR: CT radiomics can aid in characterizing renal cysts |
The combination of CT radiomics and a machine-learning algorithm can help predict if a renal cyst is benign or malignant, potentially helping to avoid unnecessary surgeries, research presented at ECR 2022 indicates.
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As big pharma loses interest in new antibiotics, infections are only growing stronger |
Forget COVID-19, monkeypox, and other viruses for the moment and consider another threat troubling infectious disease specialists: common urinary tract infections, or UTIs, that lead to emergency room visits and even hospitalizations because of the failure of oral antibiotics.
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Body Mass Index Contributors Show Age-Related Changes in Impact |
In PLOS Genetics, researchers from the University of Bristol, University College London, and other centers in the UK, Norway, and Sweden explore genetic, environmental, and socioeconomic contributors to body mass index (BMI), along with their potential changes in importance as we age. Using data for nearly 2,700 individuals between the ages of two and 69 years old from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, the team analyzed BMI contributors at up to a dozen points in participants' lives, including shifting associations involving several polygenic risk scores linked to BMI in adults or children. Together, the authors say the results "highlight the likely independent influences of polygenic and socioeconomic factors on BMI across life" and add that "chance ('non-shared') environmental influences may be increasingly important for BMI at later ages."
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Single-Cell Atlas Reveals Epigenetic, Transcriptomic Changes in Colorectal Cancer Development |
A new single-cell analysis has cataloged the composition as well as epigenetic and transcriptomic changes that take place during colorectal cancer development. Some of these changes could potentially be used to determine which polyps have progressed further than others, the Stanford University-led team said.
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Genetic testing could help match people with the right antidepressant, new VA study finds |
One in five VA patients with depression involved in a study published on Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association were prescribed an antidepressant not suited for their genetics.
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States prep for 988 mental health hotline's national debut |
A three-digit mental health crisis line launches Saturday with the ambitious goals of reducing emergency department visits and encounters with law enforcement and providing ongoing care for those experiencing mental health crises.
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Insomnia Linked to Hundreds of Loci in GWAS Meta-Analysis |
New research suggests that hundreds of genetic loci — including those falling in genes or pathways previously implicated in metabolic and psychiatric conditions — can influence individuals' propensity for insomnia.
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Light and mood: Scientists find brain pathway that may explain sensitivity |
While it is no secret that light can affect mood, scientists have long wanted to understand more about that connection. A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences explores how a pathway in the prefrontal cortexTrusted Source, a part of the brain associated with cognitive and emotional functioning, may play a role in this.
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ECR: Naples team highlights PET/MRI's clinical promise in breast cancer |
Hybrid PET/MRI is a new frontier for breast imaging, as it allows a comprehensive tumor assessment, from morphology to functional properties, according to research shown at ECR 2022 in Vienna.
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Optimal Sequencing and Patient Selection for Radium-223, A Nuclear Medicine Perspective - Phillip Koo |
Dr Phillip Koo joins Alicia Morgans in offering a nuclear oncology physician perspective on working together with oncologists, urologists, nurse practitioners, and other members of the treating community on patient selection for treatment with radium. Dr. Koo highlights the importance of identifying patients who have bone predominant disease, with no visceral metastatic disease, and consider radium 223 for their treatment as well as recognizing that this is a valid choice of treatment in those patients pre-chemotherapy.
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Bogged down in the reading room? Managing interruptions is key |
Time lost due to interruptions in the reading room can gut radiologist productivity, according to a U.S. group. They detailed the issue at their hospital in Ohio, and offered their take on how to improve workflows, in a June 27 article in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.
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Radiologists urge 'prioritization' and 'alternative agents' during contrast shortage |
With providers still experiencing contrast media shortages from GE Healthcare’s factory shutdown, a group of radiologists has published guidelines with alternative imaging methods and strategies for maintaining supplies.
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Rural hospitals struggle to maintain obstetrics services |
Many rural hospitals throughout the country are grappling with the same dilemma. They need to perform at least 200 births a year to maintain patient safety and financial viability, a recent study from the University of Minnesota published in JAMA Health Forum found. Around 42% of rural hospitals with maternity care surveyed for the study did not perform enough deliveries in 2021 for their units to be profitable.
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U.S. health insurers raise rates to match increase in usage |
After putting off routine healthcare for much of the pandemic, Americans are now returning to doctors' offices in big numbers — a trend that's starting to show up in higher insurance rates across the country.
Health insurers in individual marketplaces across 13 states and Washington D.C. will raise rates an average of 10% next year, according to a review of rate filings by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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Hospitals cutting services over staffing shortages |
As hospitals across the U.S. face workforce shortages, several have had to halt services.
At least six hospitals announced plans in recent months to scale back care due to staffing shortages.
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Data Exchange Among Doctors Widespread, but Challenges Remain: Report |
Nearly two thirds of office-based physicians are engaged in some form of electronic health information exchange (HIE), and three quarters of those who exchange data say they have experienced improvements in quality of care, practice efficiency, and patient safety as a result, according to a new study from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC).
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CMS updates nursing home staffing compliance guidelines |
Nursing home surveyors will begin using payroll data to investigate noncompliance with staffing rules, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in guidance issued Wednesday.
The agency also states that long-term care facilities must employ at least a part-time infection prevention employee, elaborates on new arbitration requirements and more. The guidance takes effect Oct. 24.
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U.S. appeals court vacates federal vaccine mandate pending additional hearing |
A U.S. appeals court panel said on Monday it would convene a full panel to reconsider President Joe Biden's executive order requiring civilian federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, and set aside the order pending that hearing.
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Hospital outpatient providers could see $6.2B pay bump in 2023 |
Medicare would pay 2.7% more for outpatient and ambulatory surgical center services in 2023 under the proposed rule. The agency also would extend reimbursement for behavioral telehealth care beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and would offer higher payments when providers purchase U.S.-made N95 respirators, which typically are costlier than foreign-made products. The rule offers insight into how CMS may respond to a recent Supreme Court decision on 340B payment cuts, as well.
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For over 25 years, HRSI has provided Authorized User (AU) classroom and laboratory training to physicians. HRSI's training is recognized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and fulfills the didactic training required by law. |
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Capsid Consulting's mission is to enhance the Infection Prevention (IP) and Antibiotic Stewardship Program (ASP) in long term care facilities around the United States via teleconsulting. Through our sister company, PraxisID, we support rural hospitals and clinics by providing full-time Infectious Disease staff to participate in patient care via telehealth as well as any other critical Infectious Disease needs. |
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HeartCare Imaging, Inc. | Phone: 561-746-6125 | Fax: 561-741-2036 | info@heartcareimaging.com |
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