Healthcare Industry News: ICD
News Release - May 24, 2007
UnitedHealthcare, American College of Cardiology and Heart Rhythm Society Partner to Improve Patient Care
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Registry participation now an integral component of UnitedHealth Premium designation program for cardiac specialty centersRegistry created by American College of Cardiology Foundation and Heart Rhythm Society supports decision making and performance assessment about ICDs by cardiac hospitals, clinicians and patients
MINNEAPOLIS--(HSMN NewsFeed)--UnitedHealthcare, a UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH ) company, along with the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society, announced an initiative that will improve patient care by expanding the collection and use of clinical outcomes data for heart rhythm devices by cardiac care facilities, cardiac surgeons, cardiologists and other health care professionals.
Hospitals seeking designation as a UnitedHealth Premium cardiac specialty center under the 2007 UnitedHealth Premium designation guidelines will submit performance data and information on heart rhythm devices to the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Registry(TM), a national database developed through collaboration between the American College of Cardiology Foundation and Heart Rhythm Society.
The ICD Registry measures usage and reports in-hospital outcomes for heart rhythm devices by tracking patient data such as device performance, stability and reliability. The data will provide important information to support enhanced decision making regarding patient candidacy for implantable defibrillators. As a result, cardiac facilities, physicians and patients will be able to evaluate ICD performance against cardiac care criteria established by recognized experts.
"The American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society are providing important leadership with the ICD Registry, which will help improve the care of patients and establish important benchmarks that will allow for continuous quality improvement in cardiac care," said Mark Schoenfeld, M.D., director, Cardiac Electrophysiology and Pacer Lab, Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, Conn., and clinical professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Schoenfeld also represents the Heart Rhythm Society as a member of UnitedHealthcare's Cardiac Scientific Advisory Board.
"This data registry will provide hospitals, clinicians and patients meaningful, evidence-based science on when to implant a defibrillator and what clinical conditions are most appropriate for this therapy," said Sam Ho, M.D., executive vice president and chief medical officer, UnitedHealthcare. "We believe that further applying evidence-based science will enhance health outcomes and increase patient safety."
The UnitedHealth Premium program provides consumers, physicians and hospitals with important tools and information to assist them in making informed health care decisions. It recognizes specialty and primary physicians and cardiac facilities that meet or exceed evidence-based, externally developed quality and efficiency standards. Through the UnitedHealth Premium program, UnitedHealthcare has designated nearly 300 cardiac specialty centers that deliver consistent quality cardiac care in line with criteria based on nationally recognized medical standards established by leading clinical societies and expert physician advice.
Best practice criteria for UnitedHealthcare's Cardiac Specialty Centers for 2007 are being issued in May and available for facility application through June 30, 2007. For additional information, visit www.unitedhealthcareonline.com.
About the ICD Registry
Launched June 30, 2005, the national ICD Registry was developed through collaboration between the American College of Cardiology Foundation and Heart Rhythm Society and is designed for participation by hospitals. The registry collects detailed information on ICD implantations and has as one of its missions helping hospitals meet Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) requirements. The purpose of the registry is to assess and improve the care of patients receiving ICDs. In addition to meeting CMS data collection requirements for ICD implantation, national ICD Registry participants receive quarterly benchmark reports that can be used to measure patient outcomes, volume and utilization.
The ICD Registry is part of the American College of Cardiology's National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR)(TM), a comprehensive cardiac and data repository. More information about the ICD Registry can be found at www.accncdr.org.
About NCDR(TM)
NCDR(TM) is an initiative of the American College of Cardiology Foundation, with partnering support from the following organizations: CathPCI Registry(TM) - the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions; ICD Registry(TM) - Heart Rhythm Society; CARE Registry - the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, the Society of Interventional Radiology, the American Academy of Neurology, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the Society for Vascular Medicine and Biology.
About the American College of Cardiology
The American College of Cardiology is leading the way to optimal cardiovascular care and disease prevention. The College is a 34,000-member nonprofit medical society and bestows the credential Fellow of the American College of Cardiology upon physicians who meet its stringent qualifications. The College is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards and guidelines, and is a staunch supporter of cardiovascular research. The ACC provides professional education and operates national registries for the measurement and improvement of quality care.
About the Heart Rhythm Society
The Heart Rhythm Society is the international leader in science, education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, and the primary information resource on heart rhythm disorders. Its mission is to improve the care of patients by promoting research, education and optimal health care policies and standards. Incorporated in 1979 and based in Washington, D.C., it has a membership of over 4,000 heart rhythm professionals in more than 60 countries around the world.
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare (www.unitedhealthcare.com) provides a full spectrum of consumer-oriented health benefit plans and services. The company organizes access to quality, affordable health care services on behalf of more than 26 million individual consumers, contracting directly with more than 535,000 physicians and care professionals and more than 4,700 hospitals nationwide to offer them broad, convenient access to services nationwide. UnitedHealthcare is one of the businesses of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH ), a diversified Fortune 50 health and well-being company.
Source: UnitedHealthcare
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