Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008 - (Page 8)

the cardiology department has realized benefits beyond compliance and patient care. “We’ve eliminated the retrospective review of stacks of paper after discharge and improved tracking.” — Ken Fath, MD, medical director of performance improvement and medical informatics, Alamance regional Medical Center Hospital has increased the percentage of patients making it to the cath lab in 90 minutes from 35 to nearly 65 percent.Banner Health System’s commitment to evidence-based medicine is a work in progress. Eventually, as the health system moves from paper to electronic records, all order sets and care mapping processes will be coded into the EMR to further streamline processes. › the Future of evidence-based Medicine The Cardiovascular Research network is a newly created collaborative designed to leverage the diverse populations and electronic data systems of nine health plans across the U.s. The Cardiovascular Research network expects to analyze a large population to determine how clinical trial results translate into medical practice and patient outcomes. “The demographic capabilities of the network are unprecedented,” says alan Go, MD, assistant director for clinical research for Kaiser Permanente of northern California in oakland, Calif. The collaborating health plans represent 7.6 million patients, and because each participating health plan uses an electronic database, researchers can pull data to answer questions. In the next five years, the first research projects of the cardiovascular-focused network will analyze hypertension recognition, treatment and control; quality of care and outcomes of the blood thinner warfarin for atrial fibrillation and blood clots, and the use and outcomes of implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs). The hypertension project will review whether or not primary-care physicians appropriately recognize and manage hypertension and if healthcare providers intensify treatment as necessary. answering such questions will help researchers determine reasons for variation in treatments and outcomes, says Go. The warfarin project aims to assess the quality of administration and management to help physicians and patients better understand the risks and benefits of treatment. finally, the ICD project will look at use and outcomes. Currently, physicians don’t know if physicians use ICDs according to clinical trials, if use has been broadened to other populations and if there is a benefit to ICD use beyond high-risk patients. The Cardiovascular Research network expects to generate additional projects in the future and collaborate with cardiac care associations such as the american Heart association. Cardiovascular Business January/february 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008 Contents The Ticker: Quality Pays in Several Ways Cover Story: The Proof: Why Evidence-based Medicine Improves Cardiac Care Clinical Study Digest: Co-payments and Cath Labs Cardiac PET/CT Fills in Gaps Left by SPECT Tapping into IT to Improve the Office-Based Practice SPECT–Proving Its Value Cardiac Images in the EMR: Just a Click Away The Top 20 Ways to Market Your Cardiac CTA Practice The Big Picture: Medical Displays for Cardiac Images Statins Work But Pharmacoeconomic Caveats Abound Driving Data Protection: Opting for Storage On- or Offsite News & Views Calendar Reader’s Resource

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2008

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