Peripheral Vascular Care: What is the Emerging Opportunity by Barbara Sallo, RN, MBA

Peripheral Vascular Care: What is the Emerging Opportunity?

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) care has become a hot topic in hospital and medical circles over the past few years. The attention the topic has been receiving is analogous to the famous line in the movie, The Graduate when the star was given advice to go to work in “plastics” to ensure career success. As with “plastics,” PVD care has not taken off as expected. A number of factors have influenced the development—or lack of development—with the greatest being PVD’s “big sister,” coronary artery disease, claiming most of the healthcare attention, to say nothing about its appetite for resources.

Should your hospital or health system focus on and commit resources to enhance PVD services? What is the market opportunity? What is the revenue potential? What does a “best” program look like? Spending time doing research and working through these questions will take the guesswork out of identifying the emerging opportunity for peripheral vascular care for your organization.

What is PVD?

PVD is a condition in which the arteries that carry blood throughout the body become narrowed or clogged. This interferes with the normal flow of blood and can cause pain and physical limitations. Conditions affecting the arteries of the heart are considered Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).

One of the most significant risk factors for PVD is age. The older population is projected to double over the next 30 years, reaching 70 million by 2030. A national study: PAD Awareness, Risk and Treatment—New Resources for Survival (PARTNERS published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA September 19, 2001) found that PVD is seriously under-diagnosed and under-treated. The American Heart Association and Harvard Health estimate:

•300,000 PVD cases are diagnosed each year.

•Eight to 10 million Americans are affected.

•PVD is two to five times more common in men.

•PVD patients have a six-fold higher death rate from cardiovascular disease.

•PVD patients have a 15 percent chance of dying within five years when symptomatic.

•PVD patients have a 50 percent chance of dying within 10 years from PVD.

Who Treats PVD?

Treatment for PVD can follow three main pathways:

•Noninvasive disease management that includes risk-factor reduction, medications to relieve symptoms and increase exercise tolerance and gene-based therapy.

•Surgical intervention that is safe and effective for many patients in whom less invasive procedures are not adequate.

•Catheter-based treatments that have an important and increasing role in the treatment of PVD.

Primary Care Physicians are often the first provider to identify the problem. Cardiologists may identify PVD during cardiac catheterization procedures.

The more complicated issue related to PVD is which specialist should provide treatment. Traditionally, interventional radiologists and vascular surgeons have treated patients with advanced stage PVD. With the introduction of catheter-based interventions, cardiologists are treating PVD in the catheterization lab. This shift has set the stage for cultural and political “turf wars” that need to be addressed and resolved if a hospital is to have a full service, integrated program.

Go to Page 2

BIO:

Barbara Sallo, RN, MBA is the President of Health Care Visions, Ltd. a cardiovascular consulting firm based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The firm brings extensive knowledge and expertise in this area of clinical care. Health Care Visions, Ltd. has assisted a multitude of hospitals in all phases of cardiovascular programs from market assessments, program assessments and feasibility studies to business planning and implementation.

Some Aditional Articles you may enjoy

Five Ways to Fit Fitness Into Your Life by Sylvie Charrier

Acne & Wrinkles at my age? by Naweko San-Joyz

Shoulder Exercises For Beginning Bodybuilders by Rick Mitchell

How We Cured My Husband's Insomnia by Danielle Papageorgiou

10 Reasons Why Bodybuilders Fail To Grow by Wade McNutt

Click a Number to go to an article index page
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39