MASSDEVICE ON CALL — The number of cardiologists practicing in the U.S. has tripled since 2007, according to an American College of Cardiology census of more than 2,500 cardiologists.
That’s a sign that the trend toward hospital integration is proceeding apace, according to heartwire.
Only 60% of cardiology practices are doctor-owned, compared with 72% 5 years ago, and 24% are hospital owned – a drastic rise compared with 8% in 2007.
But the biggest shift came in employment figures. Five years ago, 59% of cardiologists in the census worked for private practices and 11% for hospitals. Today the numbers are the same, with 35% of respondents in private practice and 35% working in hospitals.
The ACC is conducting its Legislative Conference in Washington this week, hoping to influence members of Congress on proposed spending cuts the college views as harmful, according to heartwire.
"[The] biggest challenges confronting these cardiovascular practices are revenue streams and reimbursement issues from the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] … [it’s] "really taking its toll on the physician practices," ACC president Dr. William Zoghbi told the website.
Clinton stumps on Medicare for Obama
Former President Bill Clinton charged Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney with misleading voters on President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform law, according to the LA Times.
Romney’s claim that healthcare reform "robbed Medicare of $716 billion" isn’t true, Clinton charged, saying that the cuts would come from future payments to hospitals and insurers, not Medicare patients.
"A lot of Republicans got elected to Congress peddling that old dog. It’s a mangy old dog. It’s not true," Clinton told a Florida audience yesterday. Republicans will "either have to change Medicare as we know it, even eight years earlier than they promised to, or take more money away from education, not to pay for more seniors on Medicare but to pay for providers," Clinton said.
Attacks on his Medicare stance from Obama and proxies like Clinton may be taking their toll on Romney, who reiterated the $716 billion in cuts claim in a Spanish-language ad airing this week.
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Stent grafts lower mortality rates from abdominal aneurysms
Endovascular repair for abdominal aortic aneurysms using stent grafts has a lower rate of complications, even in high-risk patients with kidney, heart or lung problems, than open surgery procedures – even when the aneurysms rupture, according to a Mayo Clinic study.
And endovascular repair also wins on recovery time, which is typically a day in the hospital and 1-2 weeks of home rest, compared with 5-7 days in the hospital and 4-6 weeks at home for open surgery.
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Predicting breast cancer recurrence with PET/CT
PET/CT scans may help predict the recurrence of invasive ductal breast cancer, according to a study in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
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The heart remodels soon after injury
The heart muscle begins to remodel itself soon after a cardiac injury, leading to significant structural changes including enlargement, excess formation of fibrous growth tissue and coronary vasculature abnormalities occurring as soon as 7 days after the incident, according to the American Journal of Pathology.
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