Rehospitalization within 30 days of an initial acute coronary syndrome or heart failure event has now become a CMS quality measure that will affect overall hospital Medicare payments. It has been appreciated for some time that rehospitalization for these diagnoses has been unacceptably high.

A recent report indicates that a greater percentage of U.S.... »

The annual meetings of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have been the centerpiece for the international exchange of ideas in clinical and basic cardiology for the last half century. They have attracted research scientists from around the world as a result of their preeminence as a platform for the presentation of new... »

It has been 100 years since Sir William Osler outlined his concept of the relationship of the hospital to the university and to the education of physicians and nurses in an address to the Northumberland and Durham Medical Society in England. He stated that the hospital stands "primarily for the cure of the sick and the relief of suffering; secondly,... »

It has been 17 years since the first publication of the Scandinavian Simvastatin Survival Study (Lancet 1994;344;1383-9) describing the benefit of coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) on cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease.

During this period, statins have become a major part of our strategy for the treatment and prevention... »

On a recent visit to the campus of my alma mater, I had a chance to visit some of the biomedical research laboratories. One of those is under the direction of a tenured professor who is making new biodegradable blood vessels the size of a coronary artery that will last long enough to allow for new fibrous tissue to form and replace the degrading substance.... »

The measurement of quality of care has been the mantra of health policy care for the past decade, and has become as American as apple pie and Chevrolet. Yet there have been few data showing that the institution of quality of care guidelines has had any impact on mortality or morbidity.

Despite this lack of data, hospitals are being financially rewarded or... »

Over the past century, the management of American hospitals has changed dramatically. These changes have occurred as a result of major shifts in the social and financial environment and have had a major effect on how medicine was practiced in the past and how it will be practiced in the future.

The American hospital as we know it today was established... »