Cath Lab Management

Cath Lab Digest supplies readers with numerous articles on the management of cath labs, including inventory procedures, medical coding and billing procedures, risk management strategies, job sharing, and more. For more information, view our links below.

Cath Lab Movie Madness: Everything I Learned about Cath Lab Management I Heard at the Movies Cath Lab Movie Madness: Everything I Learned about Cath Lab Management I Heard at the Movies Cath Lab Management: Cath Lab Movie Madness: Everything I Learned about Cath Lab Management I Heard at the Movies- John Florio, Executive Director, Cardiovascular Services, University of Kansas Hospital; President-Elect ACVP The American Film Institute (AFI) recently published AFI's 100 Years... Younger employees may have quotes from movies that you have never heard of, but remember, these are the top...

Welcome to our special issue on cath lab management! It?s a tough but exciting world out there for the cath lab manager. If you?re short on staff, funds (or both), and suffering from low morale, you?re the one who must keep up your own spirits and those of your staff by providing positive leadership. Managers have the difficult task of keeping an eye on the future while fixing problems in the here-and-now.

Jewish Hospital What is the size of your cath lab facility and number of staff members? Jewish Hospital has nine cath labs, including seven interventional labs and two electrophysiology (EP) lab/implant rooms. We have 85 full-time employees (FTEs) within our department. Our FTEs are comprised of registered nurses (RNs), registered radiology technologists (RT[R]s), cardiovascular technologists (CVTs), patient service associates (PSAs), a transporter, supply associate, scheduler, department secretary, and two unit secretaries. The Louisville General Hospital (now closed) supervised the cath lab at Jewish Hospital from 1971 to 1983. The staff consisted of General Hospital employees until 1983. At that time, Jewish Hospital hired its own employees to work in the cath lab. There were no CVTs employed in the lab prior to 1987.

A New Twist in Cath Lab Management: Job Sharing Three years ago, at the cath lab at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colorado, the word was spreading that the hospital and cardiologists were going to open a joint venture outpatient cath lab, to be called Heart Center of the Rockies Cardiac Catheterization Lab (HCOR). The venture would take place between the Heart and Vascular Clinic of Northern Colorado and Poudre Valley Health Systems (PVHS). The staff in the cath lab were skeptical that it would work, and most employees showed no interest in the new endeavor. Because of this there was difficulty in hiring a manager. The Medical Director asked Denise and I if we would start putting it together until they could hire a manager.

Radiation and the Pregnant Nurse Appropriately meeting the needs of the pregnant professional is an important part of cath lab management. There are many potentially conflicting requirements. These include radiation protection rules, anti-discrimination regulations, the pregnant employee?s wishes, and the need to maintain adequate staffing levels. There are no universal answers because of these factors plus the social dynamics of the lab?s staff. This article simply reports one particular case from the viewpoint of both the radiation safety officer (SB) and the pregnant worker (JL).

Supply Inventory Models for the Cardiac Catherization Laboratory During the past 30 years, the number of cardiac catheterization labs has grown at breakneck speed. From 1979 to 2001, actual cardiac catheterization procedures increased 315%,1 making it one of the fastest-growing clinical services. Until recently, revenues have kept pace with this expansion. The average operating margin for a procedure is currently between $1,000 and $1,800. In order to maintain attractive profit margins, hospitals can implement certain processes to monitor and control their operating costs. One ?smart? process is to develop and maintain inventory control methods to manage supply inventory and purchasing practices.

Tips to Improve Door-to-Balloon Time to < 90 Minutes: Life in the real world Introduction The American Heart Association (AHA) in 20051 stated cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the ?single largest killer? of individuals in the United States. Thirteen million Americans suffer from coronary artery disease (CAD). Nineteen percent of our workforce is presently permanently disabled by this disease. Approximately 865,000 people suffer from a ST-elevation (STEMI) and non-ST-elevation (NSTEMI) myocardial infarction (MI) annually.

Cath Lab Expense/Cost Process Improvements It is budget time, and the phrase of the day is ?decrease expenses and increase revenue.? At the same time, DRG and APC reimbursement for cardiac services in some areas is being reduced. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposal is to ?adopt both the HSRV cc weighting methodology and the consolidated severity-adjusted DRGs. More than 1000 hospitals in rural areas will see an average increase of 3.7 percent in FY 2007; urban hospitals will see an average increase of 3.4 percent in FY 2007. Cardiac specialty hospitals will see an average increase of only 1.2 percent in FY 2007 because of the refinements CMS is making to improve payment accuracy.? Some of the ?proposed? DRG changes include:

Letter to the Editor Letter to the Editor Cath Lab Management: Letter to the Editor - Cross-training in Missouri Misrepresented in CLD Discussion Group I work in the Kansas City, Missouri area. I think Missouri may have been a little misrepresented in the survey. ?

Setting the Course of Our Future: The Role of Professional Collaboration in Improving Health Care For as long as I can remember, nurses and technologists have clamored, ?We are professionals and should be treated as professionals.?