EP Lab Digest - February 2008 - (Page 39)

FEBRUARY 2008 NEWS 39 Cleveland Clinic Recruits Bruce Lindsay, MD, to Lead Electrophysiology Program ruce D. Lindsay, MD, currently Professor of Medicine and Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Washington University in St. Louis, has been appointed Director of Electrophysiology at the Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute in Ohio. “We are pleased to have such an established leader in the field of electrophysiology join our team and continue to develop this talented department of physicians who have deep skills in treating delicate and complex diseases,” said Bruce Lytle, MD, Chairman of Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute. “Dr. Lindsay is one of the world's most prominent experts in heart rhythm disorders and will bring great energy and leadership to this vital area of cardiology,” said Dr. Steven Nissen, Chairman of Cardiovascular Medicine. Dr. Lindsay, an established leader in the field, is the President of the Heart Rhythm Society, a member of B the Board of Trustees for the American College of Cardiology and former chair of the College's Board of Governors. He also works with the American Board of Internal Medicine writing examinations that certify knowledge and skills in the field of cardiac electrophysiology. “My decision to accept this position was strongly influenced by the Clinic's mission to provide compassionate health care of the highest quality,” said Dr. Lindsay. “This embodies a goal I have set throughout my career, and I look forward to working with this internationally acclaimed institution.” Dr. Lindsay is a graduate of Jefferson Medical College and completed a residency in internal medicine at the University of Michigan. He served in the National Health Service Corps from 1980-83 at a rural health initiative project in East Jordan, Michigan. While practicing in this rural community, he became interested in heart rhythm disorders because little was known about the causes and optimal treatment of these problems. Dr. Lindsay completed a cardiology fellowship at Washington University where he undertook additional training in the treatment of heart rhythm disorders. He joined the faculty in 1985 and became director of the electrophysiology program in 1994. His clinical research and publications have focused on identification of patients at increased risk for cardiac arrest, improved technology for implantable defibrillators, malfunctions of implantable cardiac devices and advances in ablation of heart rhythm abnormalities. He is an author for the Heart Rhythm Society's recent state-of-the-art consensus document for ablation of atrial fibrillation.Through his commitment to education he has served on the faculty at meetings throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and China. St. Jude Medical Announces FDA Approval of Next Generation Internet-Based Data Management System for Implantable Cardiac Devices Merlin.net Patient Care Network Provides Physicians with Improved Access to Important Patient Device Data t. Jude Medical, Inc. announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of software and firmware updates to the Merlin™.net Patient Care Network (PCN).The new Merlin.net PCN 2.5 will expand availability of the system nationwide and provide physicians with improved options for remotely monitoring their patients with the most commonly-used St. Jude Medical implantable cardiac devices. The upgraded system includes enhancements to the Housecall Plus™ transmitter,which patients use to convey data from their devices over phone lines to the central Merlin.net PCN data repository.The new modifications offer improved ease of use for patients and physicians, a simple, one-step procedure for data transmission, expansion of services to include the entire U.S., and the ability to accommodate patients with devices who travel out of the U.S. by allowing them to transmit data from overseas. The U.S.Veterans Health Administration (VA) has been using Merlin.net PCN since August 2007 (through its National ICD Surveillance Program). Currently, twenty VA medical centers have enrolled to provide remote monitoring service to veterans with St. Jude Medical defibrillators. Several special enhancements have been made in Merlin.net PCN to facilitate patient registration, transfer important device data to the VA National ICD Surveillance Program Web site, and electronically paste text-rich reports into the VA Computerized Patient Records System. In addition, St. Jude Medical is the first cardiac rhythm management company to satisfy the requirements established by the IHE (Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise), which promotes the adoption of standards for sharing healthcare information seamlessly across clinical settings. Compliance with IHE standards supports the compatibility of Merlin.net PCN with electronic health record (EHR) systems. By designing in an open architecture, St. Jude Medical allows clinics and physicians to utilize Merlin.net with their choice of EHR system. Merlin.net PCN already has successfully integrated into major EHR systems, including GEMMS, LUMEDX and NextGen (through eMedApps), and is expanding its integration with other systems. S “Remote management of patients with implanted devices is critical to optimizing the value of these therapies,” said Steve Compton, MD, chief of electrophysiology at Alaska Heart Institute. “The ability to merge information captured by the device into the patient's electronic health record would ensure that we have a complete patient history from which to make clinical decisions.This can improve the quality of care and efficiency of patient management, especially for patients who are seen at more than one facility.” Merlin.net PCN is an Internet-based central repository for patient device data that gives physicians immediate access to detailed information about the performance of the patient's device, allowing them to assess the patient and determine the level of care needed. Patients with implantable cardiac devices use the Housecall Plus transmitter to send data from their devices directly to Merlin.net PCN from the comfort of their own homes. The system gives patients the freedom to send data, and physicians the ability to review it (during or outside of regular office hours), which may contribute to better early detection and care for patients with abnormal heart rhythms. Merlin.net PCN provides storage for important data that is captured in a patient's implantable cardiac device — from the implant procedure, in-office follow-up visits and remote follow-up transmissions.Transmitted data includes reports of any episodes of irregular heart rhythms as well as a real-time electrogram, which shows the patient's heartbeat at the time of transmission. Data transmitted to the central repository is available to physicians via a secure log-in, and can also be integrated into existing patient EHRs to ensure a comprehensive patient history is generated and accessible. “The enhancements to our Merlin.net PCN system will enable better efficiency for both physicians and patients,” said Eric S. Fain, president of the St. Jude Medical Cardiac Rhythm Management Division. “Seamless integration of patient data into electronic medical records is key to delivering and improving quality of care. We have developed Merlin.net PCN to be compatible with existing EHR systems, so physicians can use it with the clinic- and hospital-based systems they already have in use.” http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net http://Merlin.net

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of EP Lab Digest - February 2008

EP Lab Digest - February 2008 Creating the U-M Center for Arrhythmia Research: Interview with José Jalife, MD Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute and St. David’s Medical Center Launch State-of-the-Art Training Center Contents Letter from the Editor Spotlight Interview: Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center 10-Minute Interview: Sue Deck, BS, RN, RCES Keeping Pace With a Blog Roundtable Discussion on Cryoablation Procedures Email Discussion Group: February 2008 Events Calendar Industry News and Products Classifieds Advertisers Index

EP Lab Digest - February 2008

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