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 Colleague -
The baseball playoffs are upon us and college and pro football are in full swing. There are teams with lots of talent that under perform because they don’t play as a team…they lack teamwork. On the other hand, there are ones that overcome more talented teams because they do understand their individual roles and play as a team. Aren’t there some similarities in healthcare? I’ve seen it over the years at facilities where some players are more interested in themselves vs. the team which causes the quality of care to decline. The difference between sports and healthcare though is that we are dealing with patients lives. In order to have a highly effective and quality healthcare organization with world class outcomes it is absolutely necessary for everyone to focus on the game plan and play as a team. We work with every HCI team member to ensure they understand this necessity both in our home office and at our customer’s site, which has resulted in working with like minded organizations to provide the best in healthcare.
At HCI, we are proud to be part of the team.
Best Regards,
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Apple scores FDA clearance for heart rhythm-sensing Apple Watch
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Apple has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration for its latest Apple Watch, which can now conduct electrocardiograms and deliver alerts if atrial fibrillation is detected.
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Aortic Vascular Inflammation Associated With CAD in Psoriasis
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Aortic vascular inflammation, detected by F18 positron emission tomography/CT (18F-FDG PET/CT), was linked with coronary artery disease (CAD) based on coronary CT angiography (CCTA) among psoriasis patients in a cross-sectional cohort study.
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Why a regular bedtime may benefit your heart and metabolism
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The cardiometabolic health risks linked to sleep deprivation are numerous. These health risks include weight gain, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day, however, is also vital for health.
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CVD mortality elevated in predominantly Hispanic counties
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“The finding that Hispanic population density is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality is noteworthy and challenges existing notions about the protective effect of cultural enclaves among Hispanics, or what’s known as the ‘Hispanic paradox,’” Fatima Rodriguez, MD, MPH, cardiologist at Stanford University, said in a press release. “Clinical and public health efforts should target cardiovascular disease prevention in counties where Hispanics live, design interventions outside of health care settings and focus on improving neighborhood access to healthy food sources and physical activity.”
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Strategies Shorten HF Admissions, Reduce Readmissions
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Heart failure admissions can be shortened and readmissions reduced with care management, two trials found with a standardized approach to care and with lung impedance-guided care, respectively. Both trials were presented at the Heart Failure Society of America meeting in Nashville, Tennessee.
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30 Million Americans Now Have Diabetes
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1 in 7 Americans has diabetes, and many don't even know they have the blood sugar disease, a new report shows. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 percent of U.S adults have diabetes -- 10 percent know it and more than 4 percent are undiagnosed.
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LVAD in Heart Failure Linked to Improved Glycemic Control
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Patients with heart failure and diabetes who received a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) for their heart failure also had improvements in markers such as hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting plasma glucose, and daily insulin requirements, according to the results of a study published in ESC Heart Failure.
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Delayed NaF-PET enhances coronary plaque detection
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In life, timing is everything. With sodium fluoride (NaF) PET, interpreting results three hours after tracer injection instead of the customary one-hour delay improved image quality and standardized uptake values (SUVs), leading to significantly better coronary plaque detection, according to a September 13 article in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
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HF patients discharged with euvolemia see fewer readmissions
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Heart failure patients who are discharged from the hospital before they reach euvolemia—a healthy balance of blood in the body—are more likely to be readmitted in both the short- and long-term, according to research published in the American Journal of Cardiology this month.
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Intensive Blood Pressure Therapy Lowers Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes
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Intensive blood pressure (BP) therapy is associated with a significantly lower risk for serious cardiovascular events in the adult population with diabetes in the United States, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
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Long-term acute-care hospitals vital to caring for complex patients
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Long-term acute-care hospitals were excluded from the Inpatient Prospective Payment System back in the early '80s. Other so-called IPPS-excluded hospitals include rehabilitation, psychiatric, cancer and children's hospitals. These IPPS-excluded hospitals serve very specific patient populations, where specialization brings both scale and requisite expertise to focus on specific needs.
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Next-Gen ALK Inhibitor Shows Promise in Advanced NSCLC
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In patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and intracranial involvement, treatment with the ALK inhibitor brigatinib (Alunbrig) yielded substantial responses in the brain and durable delays in intracranial disease progression, researchers found.
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Daily milk consumption linked to lower cardiovascular rates, mortality
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People who consume three servings of milk daily have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and mortality than those consuming lower dairy levels, according to a study in 21 countries.
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SNMMI supports proposed expansion of cardiac PET coverage
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The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) recently submitted comment to BlueCross BlueShield (BCBS) of Tennessee supporting its proposed expansion of cardiac PET coverage.
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Aspirin could play valuable role as additional treatment for cancer
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The systematic review, which looked at the survival of 120,000 patients with cancer who took aspirin, compared with 400,000 patients who did not, showed that at any time following the diagnosis of some cancers the proportion of patients who were still alive was 20-30% greater in those taking the drug. The spread of cancer to other parts of the body was also substantially reduced in patients using aspirin.
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Exercise may delay cognitive decline in people with rare Alzheimer's disease
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For individuals carrying a genetic mutation that causes Alzheimer's disease, engaging in at least 2.5 hours of physical activity per week may have beneficial effects on markers of Alzheimer's disease brain changes and may delay cognitive decline, according to a new study.
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Sepsis in Pediatric ALL Tied to Long-Term Neuro Effects
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Pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients who experienced bacteremic sepsis during chemotherapy treatment were more likely to develop later neurological deficits, a prospective cohort study found.
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Number of Americans with Alzheimer's expected to soar in coming decades
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By 2060, the CDC researchers project that there will be more than 7 million non-Hispanic whites, 3.2 million Hispanics and 2.2 million African-Americans with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in the U.S. The authors say the estimated increases are a result of fewer people dying from other chronic diseases and surviving into older adulthood when the risk for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias increases.
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61% of residents, faculty believe procedural training in radiology should be standardized
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Both resident and faculty respondents to a survey in the Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology agreed that procedural training should be standardized during radiology residency and competence should be ensured at completion.
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Chemotherapy Used to Treat Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in Women Age 35 or Older Risks Damage to Ovaries, Study Finds
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Damage to the ovaries is likely in women with Hodgkin’s lymphoma who are 35 years old or older and given standard chemotherapy, and in those at any age treated with BEACOPP chemotherapy, a secondary analysis of a Phase 3 study shows.
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Gallium 68 PET/MRI may detect prostate cancer better than multiparametric MRI
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Researchers from the University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF) have demonstrated that gallium 68–labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen–11 PET/MRI may detect higher rates of prostate than multiparametric MRI, according to a study published online Sept. 18 in Radiology.
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Excess Weight Gain or Loss During Pregnancy Tied to Child’s Heart Health
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After controlling for pre-pregnancy weight and many other risk factors, they found that compared with mothers who gained the recommended weight, children of women who gained excess pounds were at higher risk for high blood pressure, high B.M.I. and elevated fasting insulin readings, all risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Children whose mothers gained too little were at higher risk for slightly elevated blood pressure and elevated glucose readings.
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Zika vaccine shows promise against brain cancer
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The virus was used by researchers to kill glioblastoma brain cancer stem cells that were transplanted into mice, suggesting a new treatment option for humans.
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Growth in outpatient care: The role of quality and value incentives
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Clinical innovation, patient preferences, and financial incentives are tilting the balance in favor of outpatient settings for hospital services. Aggregate hospital revenue from outpatient services grew from 30 percent in 1995 to 47 percent in 2016.1 Some of this change is driven by patient preference and clinical and technological advances such as minimally invasive surgical procedures and new anesthesia techniques that reduce complications and allow patients to return home sooner.
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Disaster Preparedness: Strategies for
Managing the Unexpected
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Communities nationwide face a seemingly ever-increasing risk of natural and man-made disasters. Now more than ever, hospitals must be prepared to respond at a moment’s notice to powerful storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, mass casualty events and other potential disasters.
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Cybersecurity Report Card Shows Grades Rising for Orgs
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It may be only September but Seattle-based DomainTools annual Cybersecurity Report Card Survey is out and revealed GPAs on the rise with security pros feeling more confident than ever before.
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Are Universal EHRs Key to Healthcare Value, Trust, and AI Adoption?
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“Universal EHR” structures, in which every citizen’s electronic health record is connected to a single national system, are tied to higher trust in the healthcare system and higher value for patients, the international assessment showed.
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Politics that Affect Medicine
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Senators ask CMS to include opioid treatment in Medicare Advantage model
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A bipartisan group of senators asked the CMS to expand the Medicare Advantage value-based insurance design model to include substance abuse disorder patients, saying it could help combat the opioid epidemic.
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Medicaid spending to hit $1 trillion within a decade: Study
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The report, released Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, concludes that the growth in Medicaid expenditures, which are expected to average 5.7 percent a year, would "place a growing strain on federal and state budgets." In contrast, gross domestic product is projected to grow at an average of 4.1 percent, which would make Medicaid expenditures increase from an estimated 3.1 percent of GDP in 2016 to 3.7 percent of GDP in 2026.
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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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Mark your calendar! The Radiological Society of North America’s 104
th
Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place November 25 to 30 at McCormick Place in Chicago. Every year, radiology’s best and brightest convene at the RSNA annual meeting to learn from the specialty’s top experts and get an exclusive look at the latest in medical imaging technology. RSNA 2017 brought breakthrough science in machine learning, artificial intelligence and 3D printing to the forefront, affirming the Society’s position as the leader promoting scientific innovation for better patient care. Save the date now to see tomorrow’s medical imaging discoveries today at RSNA 2018!
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HeartCare Imaging, Inc. | Phone: 561-746-6125 | Fax: 561-741-2036 | info@heartcareimaging.com
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