When Is the Next Shoe To Drop – Why Wait? December 23, 2011
Posted by Christopher Clyne, MD, FHRS in Health Policy.Tags: CMS, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate
add a comment
The Super Committee has disbanded without any agreement on how to solve our budget deficit. This will impact all Americans. With regard to the medical field, there is a proposed 27.4% cut in Medicare reimbursement scheduled for January of 2012—unless the very partisan House and Senate agree to postpone this draconian cut. (more…)
Educating the Public About SCA and AEDs: Remembering Fred Thompson, Age 19 December 21, 2011
Posted by Joshua M. Cooper, MD, FACC in Education, Sudden Cardiac Arrest.Tags: AED, automatic external defibrillation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, Heart Attack, Sudden Cardiac Arrest
add a comment
I posted the following comment on an internet news column that reported the sad story of the sudden death of a young athlete, named Fred Thompson. To save young lives (and also middle-aged and older lives), it is *critical* for the public to understand the difference between a “heart attack” and “sudden cardiac arrest,” so that bystanders can use an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) even before the ambulance arrives. My posted comment was intended for the lay-public, hoping to reach at least one person who may witness a sudden cardiac arrest event and then have the knowledge and courage to act: (more…)
Clarification: CMS RAC Demonstration Project; Florida Prepayment Review December 6, 2011
Posted by Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH, FHRS in Health Policy.Tags: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, RAC
add a comment
In late November, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced plans for a prepayment review demonstration project in 11 states beginning in January 2012. In a separate action and at about the same time, First Coast Service Options, the Medicare Administrative Contractor for the State of Florida announced that it will conduct 100 percent prepayment review of charges for 15 diagnosis-related groups beginning in January 2012. These announcements have created considerable confusion about two distinct efforts. Articles in Heartwire, Bloomberg, and Forbes have led to uncertainty in the physician community about whether these actions are the same or different. (more…)
American Heart Association Meeting Report December 5, 2011
Posted by Peng-Sheng Chen, MD, FHRS in Science & Research.Tags: cardiac arrhythmia, Ventricular arrhythmia, Ventricular fibrillation
1 comment so far
Stellate Ganglionitis and Ventricular Arrhythmia
During the American Heart Association Annual Meeting, Rizzo et al (Circulation 2011:124:A13059) reported pathological characteristics of stellate ganglia resected from five long QT syndrome (LQTS) and five catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) patients. (more…)
Where will Data for Cardiac Electrophysiology Performance Measures be Derived? November 23, 2011
Posted by Heart Rhythm Society in Health Policy.Tags: Performance measures, Quality & Improvement
1 comment so far
Editor’s Note: The post below was written by EP Insights blogger, Bruce A. Koplan, MD, MPH, FHRS, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital Cardiac Arrhythmia Service.
There are limited measures of quality and performance that are unique to the field of cardiac electrophysiology. Currently, quality reporting is, for the most part, optional. Over the course of the next several years, however, physician reimbursement will increasingly be tied to performance. (more…)
EP News: Basic and Translational November 14, 2011
Posted by Peng-Sheng Chen, MD, FHRS in Science & Research.Tags: Cardiac electrophysiology, Research, Science
add a comment
Acetylcholine-Synthesizing T Cells Relay Neural Signals in a Vagus Nerve Circuit
Neural circuits regulate cytokine production to prevent potentially damaging inflammation. A prototypical vagus nerve circuit, the inflammatory reflex, inhibits tumor necrosis factor-α production in spleen by a mechanism requiring acetylcholine signaling through the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor expressed on cytokine-producing macrophages. Nerve fibers in spleen lack the enzymatic machinery necessary for acetylcholine production; therefore, how does this neural circuit terminate in cholinergic signaling? (more…)
Who Is On Your Team? November 10, 2011
Posted by Heather M. Ross, DNP, ANP-BC, CCDS, CEPS, FHRS in Allied Health Professionals, EP Physicians.Tags: Cardiology, Healthcare system, Physicians, Work force
add a comment
Since the dawn of organized medicine, health care delivery has witnessed many changes in the evolution of organizational and professional structures to benefit patient care. However, it seems that our present economy, regulatory, and social changes have combined to make this the single most uncertain time in modern medical history. (more…)
“Doc Fix” – Not Fixed Yet November 3, 2011
Posted by Christopher Clyne, MD, FHRS in Health Policy.Tags: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, Medicare, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, SGR, Sustainable Growth Rate
add a comment
The “Doc Fix” continues to be a problem for primary doctors, specialists, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recently voted 15-2, recommending a permanent “doc fix” for the Medicare reimbursement debacle, which has been temporarily patched the last several years. The proposal will be reviewed by the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – the “super-committee”- as part of their negotiations to cut $1.2 trillion from the U.S. deficit. (more…)
Cardiac Arrest – What We Do Matters October 27, 2011
Posted by Craig Delaughter, MD, PhD in Sudden Cardiac Arrest.Tags: AED, CPR, Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, SCA, Sudden Cardiac Arrest, Ventricular fibrillation
5 comments
It’s been a little over a year, but the immediacy of Greg’s story is still real.
On October 6th of 2010 I was driving home from a long day in clinic when I received a phone call from one of my referring cardiologists, David Slife: “Hey, I’m at JPS [our county hospital] and I have a guy that collapsed while playing flag football on his lunch hour, can you see him?”
I had been to JPS many times, but this was the only time my patient had tethered his laptop to his cell phone via Bluetooth to do some web browsing about cardiac arrest while waiting for his EP consultant to arrive. Greg was going to be different.
EP News: Basic and Translational October 6, 2011
Posted by Peng-Sheng Chen, MD, FHRS in Science & Research.Tags: Atrial fibrillation, Defibrillation, Heart Failure
add a comment
Defibrillation with High-Frequency Electric Field
Tandri et al (Sci Transl Med 2011;3:102ra96) studied the effects of electrical stimulation on conduction block in cardiac tissues. Electrical stimulation has been applied to nervous tissue to cause reversible conduction block, but has not been explored sufficiently in cardiac tissue.
The authors show that reversible propagation block can be achieved in cardiac tissue by holding myocardial cells in a refractory state for a designated period of time by applying a sustained sinusoidal high-frequency alternating current (HFAC). In doing so, reentrant arrhythmias are terminated.
Heart Rhythm Society
Laurie Racenet, RN, MSN, ANP
Michael Giudici, MD, FACC, FACP, FHRS
Heather M. Ross, DNP, ANP-BC, CCDS, CEPS, FHRS
Anne Dubin, MD, FHRS
John D. Day, MD, FHRS
Andrea M. Russo, MD, FACC, FHRS
Joshua M. Cooper, MD, FACC
Amit J. Shanker, MD, FHRS, FACC
Bruce Stambler, MD
David Wiggins, RN, BS BME, CEPS
Fred M. Kusumoto, MD, FHRS
Leonard Ganz, MD, FHRS
christinechiuman
Craig Delaughter, MD, PhD
Ariana Del Negro, Heart Rhythm 2010 Quality
Peng-Sheng Chen, MD, FHRS
MSKremers MD,FHRS
Ann C. Garlitski, MD, FACC, FHRS
Alan Cheng, MD, FHRS
Ulrika Birgersdotter-Green, MD
Christopher Clyne, MD, FHRS
Kathleen Blake, MD, MPH, FHRS
David Scher, MD, FHRS
Sanjay Deshpande, MD, FHRS
