June 2003

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Volume 11 Issue 6

Editorial Staff

Clinical Editor
Morton Kern, MD
Executive Editor
Laurie Gustafson
Managing Editor
Rebecca Kapur
Production Manager
Elizabeth Vasil

Editorial Correspondence

Rebecca Kapur, Managing Editor, Cath Lab Digest
HMP Communications, 70 E. Swedesford Rd
Suite 100, Malvern PA 19355
Telephone: (440) 717-0418

Fax: (866) 896-8762
Email: rkapur@hmpglobal.com
Clinical Meetings Calendar
Cardiac Catheterization 2003 This one-day symposium will cover such topics as adjunctive pharmacology in PCI, coated stents and emerging technologies. Attendees will be given opportunities to interact with leading cardiovascular care companies who w…
One proven basic design concept is to cluster cath labs around a central core, forming a primary staff zone.
Avoiding the Void: Integrating Cath Lab Equipment Early Facilitates Easier, Quicker Lab Design and Construction
Knowing the exact cath lab equipment to be used allows lab design to be more accurate and construction to proceed more smoothly and quickly. Cath lab equipment needs impact the full spectrum of a lab’s design, including size, electrical and mechanica…
Site Verification Update
Effective immediately, the Joint Commission has modified how it scores JCAHO National Patient Safety Goal #4, which requires organizations to Eliminate wrong-site, wrong-patient, wrong-procedure surgery. Specifically, the change affects the scoring o…
What Do You Think?
Readers answered the following two questions from the April issue: 1. Paramedic Use I’m interested to know if cath labs are utilizing paramedics. If so, what duties are they allowed to perform? I’m particularly interested in knowing if any cath la…
The Ambulatory Cardiac Care Center at Hahnemann Hospital
To date, there are six independent physician groups participating in the center, with other physicians coming on board. No interventional procedures are performed at our facility. However, should an emergent case arise, it is promptly dealt with by m…
Clinical and Industry News
LuMend Launches New, 50% Smaller CTO Catheter Platform LuMend Corporation, developing technology for crossing chronic total occlusions (CTOs), has launched its fifth-generation catheter platform, the Frontrunner® X39 CTO Catheter. The Frontrunner X3…
Email Discussion Group: Cardiac Call Team Dilemma
RT doesn’t need to pan My first question is, why four staff? We use one RT/CVT or RN to scrub, one RN circulating, one RT/CVT to monitor, and the MD pans the table. YOU DO NOT NEED TO HAVE AN RT PANNING THE PATIENT SINCE THE MD HAS A FLUORO SUPERVI…
Baptist Heart Institute: Dedicated Cardiac Facility Provides Superior, Yet Cost-Effective, Patient Care
Today, health care facilities must deal with a greater number of patients in a timely and cost-effective way. Reliable systems with integrated information technologies help ensure that physicians provide the best quality patient care while remaining…
Heart Center Implementation and Start-Up: The Parma Community General Hospital Experience
They saw this as an opportunity to accelerate the hospital™s growth and support their strategy to remain the only successful independent community hospital in the county. They needed to increase their ability to meet the needs of an elderly community…
10 Minute Interview with...Annie Ruppert, RN, BSN,San Diego, California
Why did you choose to work in the invasive cardiology field? I find this field to be interesting and forever changing. I graduated from a 3-year diploma nursing school in 1976 and obtained my BSN from Regents College. I have worked at Sharp Hospita…