While an operating room (OR) that is used too little represents lost revenue for the hospital, an OR that’s used too much leads to overtime costs when cases go over schedule. This has cardiovascular service line leaders searching for a balance—much like Goldilocks—that’s just right.

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The U.S. healthcare system could save between $200 million and $500 million per year if 50 percent of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) patients were discharged the same day, as reported by JAMA Cardiology. A Canadian study showed that same-day discharge (SDD) after PCI was associated with a 50 percent reduction in costs, with a mean saving of U.S. $1,086 per patient, and European studies of this subject have also reported significant savings per patient.

Yet despite the evidence, many hospitals are still missing out on this significant savings opportunity and the rate of same-day discharge after PCI remains low.

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Physician satisfaction is inextricably linked to patient satisfaction, so it stands to reason that helping doctors provide unparalleled care in an efficient, streamlined way is crucial to the success of any healthcare enterprise.

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Christiana Care Health System, one of the largest healthcare providers in the mid-Atlantic, has achieved wide-ranging improvements in both clinical performance and business outcomes after implementing strategies designed to ensure top-quality care delivery while at the same time containing costs.

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How would you like to have to tell 34,000 patients that their data had been hacked? That’s the situation that Quest Diagnostics found itself in recently after hackers stole health information including names, birth dates, telephone numbers and lab results.

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Patient safety is once again in the news with the recent release of the Leapfrog Group's Fall 2016 Hospital Safety Grade List. Almost all the hospitals on the list received a passing grade. Of the 2,633 hospitals evaluated, 844 earned an "A," 658 earned a "B," 954 earned a "C," 157 earned a "D" and 20 earned an "F."

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Higher patient ratings equal fewer readmissions, lower mortality The scores patients assign their hospitals appear to correspond with the quality of the hospitals' patient outcomes, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers analyzed the scores patients assigned to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' star-rating system for more than 3,000 hospitals. Hospitals' star ratings were inversely proportional to their rates of death within a month of discharge. Hospitals reap $1.6M from specialists, including cardiologists While the average primary care physician is generating less income for hospitals ($1.4 million in 2016 versus $1.56 million in 2013), that’s offset by specialist doctors, whose contribution to hospital revenues jumped 14% to $1.6 million, compared with $1.42 million three years ago. Among specialists, orthopedic physicians bring in the most business ($2.75 million each), followed by invasive cardiologists ($2.45 million) and ... read more

Did you have a chance to check out the latest news from the cardiology and healthIT communities? Let us help keep you up to date on the stories you won't want to miss. 2016 may bring slower patient growth, higher wages, more expensive drugs Late 2015 data support health systems' anticipation that the demand surge from patients newly insured under the Affordable Care Act would fade this year. Economists with the Altarum Institute say spending acceleration from the coverage expansion may have peaked last February. FDA clears Biotronik's peripheral stent The FDA has cleared Biotronik's Astron Peripheral Self-Expanding Nitinol Stent System, a device for improving luminal diameter in patients with iliac atherosclerotic lesions. The stent system is described as a self-expanding stent loaded on an over-the-wire delivery system. Patients increasingly turning to mobile health apps More than 30 percent of consumers last year said they have at least one health app on... read more

Did you have a chance to check out the latest news from the cardiology community? We've captured the top industry stories from this week that you won't want to miss. After Obamacare implementation, public still rates healthcare good or excellent Implementation of the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare) hasn’t changed how Americans rate their healthcare, according to a new Gallup poll. More than half of the respondents rated their healthcare good or excellent, but less than 24 percent were satisfied with healthcare costs. Healthcare coverage was rated positively by only 33 percent. Diagnostic ECG waveform reading in Carestream Vue Motion viewer cleared by FDA The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given clearance for diagnostic reading of electrocardiogram (ECG) waveforms on mobile tablets and desktop displays using Carestream’s Vue Motion universal viewer. The new capability would allow physicians to give faster responses to ST segment elevation myocardial... read more

Did you have a chance to check out the latest healthcare IT news stories around the Web? We’ve captured the top industry news stories from this week that you won’t want to miss. An Ideal Transition: Multi-Campus Rollout of Echo CVIS at Orlando Health Read the latest case study from Diagnostic & Interventional Cardiology to learn how Orlando Health has successfully implemented LUMEDX's physician structured reporting and image management solution across five of its campuses. Read how the hospitals use standardized reports for echo in order to improve efficiency and streamline workflow. Million Hearts Model Rewards Physicians for Prevention According to Medscape, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently announced a 5-year, randomized controlled trial to test the idea of paying physicians for reducing the long-term cardiovascular risk of their high-risk patients. CMMI will enroll 720 practices in the clinical trial between June and September, and ... read more