Cardiology is a competitive service line, and more and more hospitals and physicians are partnering to ensure they secure part of the market and provide quality care to patients. Recently, for instance, Little Rock.-based Arkansas Heart Hospital partnered with Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton, Ark., for cardiology services. In addition to clinical collaborations, hospitals should also consider technology as a strategy to not only attract customers but also to offer patients the best care possible. J. Brian DeVille, MD, FACC, a cardiac electrophysiologist on the medical staff at The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano (Texas), describes how commitment to the patient, top-notch staff and careful choice of technology have contributed to the hospital's success in cardiology.
1. Commitment to the patient. "We have a great commitment to medical excellence and center our care around the patient," Dr. DeVille says. He says The Heart Hospital emphasizes "5-star service" — the concept that the caliber of services provided at the hospital should be the same as the quality of services at a five-star hotel.
2. High-quality staff. One of the primary strengths of the hospital's cardiology services is the staff, including physicians, nurses and ancillary staff members, according to Dr. DeVille. Patients have commented that staff members "treat them like people, not like a disease process" — an attitude encouraged by the hospital's culture, he says. The strength of the physicians and staff lies not only in their relationship with patients, however, but also in their relationship with each other. "At our facility, we try not to separate out into different functionalities. There is collaboration across the departments. I don't feel that I'm competing with surgery for capital or attention," he says.
3. Carefully-chosen technology. Choosing technology that will enhance the quality of services offered to patients is another element of The Heart Hospital's success. Dr. DeVille says it is important to make decisions on technology with input from multiple stakeholders and in a transparent manner. This approach ensures technology is purchased or denied for primarily patient-care reasons instead of solely financial motivations.
On Dec. 13, The Heart Hospital became the first hospital in the world to perform an electrophysiology ablation procedure using Stereotaxis' EpochTM remote navigation technology for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. Dr. DeVille says the hospital upgraded to this system because it offers greater precision and it allows the hospital to treat a wider variety of arrhythmias. Additionally, in November The Heart Hospital implemented Stereotaxis' Odyssey Cinema Studio, an information management system, allowing physicians to capture and display all data related to a patient's procedure. "[Odyssey Cinema Studio] offers a huge potential for webcasting and interactive conferencing — where one operator is doing the procedure and another physician is fielding questions from the audience if there's a webcast," Dr. DeVille says.
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1. Commitment to the patient. "We have a great commitment to medical excellence and center our care around the patient," Dr. DeVille says. He says The Heart Hospital emphasizes "5-star service" — the concept that the caliber of services provided at the hospital should be the same as the quality of services at a five-star hotel.
2. High-quality staff. One of the primary strengths of the hospital's cardiology services is the staff, including physicians, nurses and ancillary staff members, according to Dr. DeVille. Patients have commented that staff members "treat them like people, not like a disease process" — an attitude encouraged by the hospital's culture, he says. The strength of the physicians and staff lies not only in their relationship with patients, however, but also in their relationship with each other. "At our facility, we try not to separate out into different functionalities. There is collaboration across the departments. I don't feel that I'm competing with surgery for capital or attention," he says.
3. Carefully-chosen technology. Choosing technology that will enhance the quality of services offered to patients is another element of The Heart Hospital's success. Dr. DeVille says it is important to make decisions on technology with input from multiple stakeholders and in a transparent manner. This approach ensures technology is purchased or denied for primarily patient-care reasons instead of solely financial motivations.
On Dec. 13, The Heart Hospital became the first hospital in the world to perform an electrophysiology ablation procedure using Stereotaxis' EpochTM remote navigation technology for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia. Dr. DeVille says the hospital upgraded to this system because it offers greater precision and it allows the hospital to treat a wider variety of arrhythmias. Additionally, in November The Heart Hospital implemented Stereotaxis' Odyssey Cinema Studio, an information management system, allowing physicians to capture and display all data related to a patient's procedure. "[Odyssey Cinema Studio] offers a huge potential for webcasting and interactive conferencing — where one operator is doing the procedure and another physician is fielding questions from the audience if there's a webcast," Dr. DeVille says.
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