Revamped Cardiology CE for Technologists, RNs

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

We've updated our online, on-demand continuing education platform to better serve cardiovascular professionals! We now host cardiology CE natively on the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals website with an overhauled and much improved user experience connected to your ACVP membership account.

On-demand Cardiology CE: CVCEU by ACVP

While cardiovascular technologists are used to finding education relevant to their specialty, it can be harder for registered nurses and radiologic technologists working in cardiac care environments to find quality online continuing education approved for them.

It's ACVP's mission to provide high quality continuing education to cardiovascular technologists, registered nurses AND radiologic technologists working in ALL cardiac specialties. Our new continuing education platform will further that mission with an easy-to-use interface and more educational content to come.

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Understanding Cath Lab Finance: ACVP Collaborates with SCAI to Produce Resource

Posted on by Kurt Jensen
Cath Lab Finance

A collaboration between the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions and the Alliance of Cardiovascular Professionals produced an expert consensus statement outlining the general principles of cath lab finance - crucial considerations for cath lab managers and all cath lab staff.

The document was published online last week in the SCAI's Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions journal and endorsed by ACVP.

In a SCAI-TV video interview, James C. Blankenship MD. MHCM, MSCAI and Peter L. Duffy MD, MMM, FSCAI described the crucial importance of understanding cath lab finance and its impact on quality patient care.

"As we see health care evolving with new payment mechanisms coming on board, the incentives are going to change and the way that cath labs operate is going to have to change as well," said Dr. Blankenship. "Cath lab directors need to be able to talk to their administrative partners about the financial aspects of this and be able to advocate for patient care, which is sometimes more expensive, and make sure that they keep the cath lab solvent financially."

ACVP's Collaboration with SCAI "Critically Important"

When asked about the collaboration with ACVP, Dr. Duffy explained that involving both physicians and non-physicians, managers and administrators was "critically important" in producing this resource.

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Transradial Access: where we are

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

A popular hashtag among cardiologists on Twitter, #RadialFirst hopes to promote the adoption of transradial access for cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in cath labs across the world thanks to a deepening evidence base of positive outcomes.

The evidence shows that transradial access is associated with reductions in bleeding, vascular complications, and time to ambulation compared with a femoral approach. However, while the adoption of the transradial approach is increasing in the United States, the approach is not as widely used as it is in Europe, Canada and Asia—perhaps due to the challenges in the approach's learning curve.

So, what is the current state of the transradial approach in the United States? That is the question a new comprehensive literature review from the Duke Clinical Research Institute, published in Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications, set out to answer.

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Stents not effective? Study sparks debate pt. 1

Posted on by Kurt Jensen

U.K. PCI study sparks U.S. debate

On Wednesday, November 1, results from the Objective Randomized Blinded Investigation with Optimal Medical Therapy of Angioplasty in Stable Angina (ORBITA) study were published in The Lancet.

The next day, this article was published in the New York Times:

"A procedure used to relieve chest pain in hundreds of thousands of heart patients each year is useless for many of them," it began... "The new study, published in the Lancet, stunned leading cardiologists by countering decades of clinical experience. The findings raise questions about whether stents should be used so often—or at all—to treat chest pain."

Without further knowledge, the debate may start right here—the New York Times article had little in the way of medical detail to satisfy invasive cardiovascular professionals and may have further generalized results in a misleading manner.

But let's hold off on reacting, look at the debate surrounding this particular study and also place the findings in a wider context (part two). Note: this isn't the first time it has been suggested that stents are overused.

Continue reading Stents not effective? Study sparks debate pt. 1