A recent review of data from the CathPCI Registry, part of the American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR), offers some insight into average, real-world D2B times.[1] For STEMI patients who arrived at an angioplasty-capable hospital, the average time from hospital arrival to treatment was 64.5 minutes. For patients requiring transfer to another hospital, the average time from arrival at the first hospital to treatment was 121 minutes.

There has been much discussion about how use of transradial access may help reduce costs by cutting hospital admissions, length of stay and observation periods, while also reducing bleeding complications and the need for transfusions. Few centers could offer hard numbers showing these savings, however empirical evidence is now surfacing that these statements are true. The numbers show that transradial programs are impacting several hospitals’ bottom lines.

St. Jude Medical Inc. announced plans for a new landmark study that will evaluate whether renal denervation and medication can provide health benefits to patients beyond lowering high blood pressure. The EnligHTNment trial is the first large-scale study that will examine the long-term effects of renal denervation in patients who have uncontrolled hypertension to see if renal denervation also reduces the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke and death.

To address the rising costs of healthcare, we must improve the way that health care is delivered, including coordinating care better and improving the safety of care, stated the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in its assessment of healthcare reform, released Feb. 28.