Regulatory Changes in Cardiac Care

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was first introduced in 1974 by pioneer Andreas Grüntzig and has evolved to include multiple devices in the treatment of complex coronary anatomy.  The use of PCI has progressively grown over the past 30 years, mostly in part due to expanded indications, improved equipment, the continued evolution of coronary stents, along…

TAVR: The New Standard of Care?

The new ACC valvular heart disease guidelines, released in 2020, recognize the expanding role of transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and the intervention choices available for a patient with severe aortic stenosis.  This focused update provides evidence-based recommendations to optimize care and management of patients with valvular heart disease, and highlights the expanding indications for…

Understanding Your ACTUAL Worth (or Theirs)

As a seasoned  placement firm for Physicians and Service Line Leaders, our Corazon team is always taken aback by both clients and candidates with unrealistic salary expectations that are not based on current market rates. This can not only cause frustration on both sides, but also become a terrible waste of resources.  This situation can…

Neuro-interventions in the Cardiac Cath Lab?

Savvy organizations can realize great success with cardiac procedural volumes in their cath labs with clinical excellence, operational efficiency, and positive impact on the bottom line.  But sustaining volume or growing for the future can be a bit more challenging, especially in these uncertain times. Discussions around program growth are usually accompanied by questions about…

Women’s Specialty Centers by Vicki Lucas

Women’s Specialty Centers (WSC) are often a collaboration between service lines as a business development strategy that benefits both partners.  For example, Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU) has a National Center for Excellence in Women’s Health (WHC) and the Knight Cardio-vascular Institute (KCI).  Both are well-funded and nationally recognized but they previously lived in…

Best Practice Perspectives: External Peer Review

The concept of peer review within healthcare service lines can be likened to a type of preventive maintenance, much like hospital equipment  that involves regularly-scheduled check-ups to avoid a costly fix.   Because, why wait for an event to trigger an investigative review and subsequent expensive repair or replacement?  In many situations the “retrospective” review comes…