Page 14 - February 2017

Cardiology

Cover Story: Preparing for

Medicare's Big Bundled-Payment Dr. Lance Simkins

Expansion in Cardiac Care Achieves Certification

Continued from page 1 in Clinical Lipidology,

opportunities to qualify for a 5 percent incentive payment through the Advanced
Alternative Payment Model (APM) path under the Medicare Access and CHIP His Sixth Board-Certification
Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and the Quality Payment Program. These
models begin their five-year operations on July 1, 2017. Lance Simkins, M.D., FACC, an interventional
The changes are part of a nationwide shift toward value-based payment systems cardiologist with Tenet Florida Physician
that aim to reward healthcare providers for quality over quantity of care. This transi- Services (TFPS) has recently been awarded
tion from fee-for-service to value-based care continues to be one of the greatest chal- Diplomate status with the American Board of
lenges healthcare providers face today. Clinical Lipidology (ABCL). Dr. Simkins has
“The same principles apply to all surgical disciplines - cardiac, orthopedic, neuro- been an interventional cardiologist in South
logic or thoracic surgery, value-based care is about producing better outcomes and Florida since 1991 and joined TFPS in 2012. He
reducing costs more efficiently,” says Harold Mondschein, CEO and co-founder of is on staff at The Heart Institute of Florida at
Medtel, a New York City-based company which delivers innovative tools that Florida Medical Center, a campus of North Shore
improve a hospital’s ability to provide best-in-class surgical care at reduced costs. in Fort Lauderdale, where he is the current Chief
To survive in this new environment, Mondschein stresses that healthcare institu- Wellness Officer. He is a member of the Tenet
tions will need to continue focusing on ways to increase efficiency, reduce costs and Florida Heart & Vascular Network.
provide better outcomes. Medtel’s clients credit Medtel’s unique ability to identify sur- Dr. Simkins has accomplished prior board cer-
gical challenges before they arise as critical to their success in making the mandated tifications in internal medicine, cardiology, inter- Dr. Lance Simkins
transition to value-based care. ventional cardiology, nuclear cardiology and obesi-
“Medtel's user-friendly platform streamlines care, enhances communication, and ty medicine. He became a certified health coach through a program with
improves efficiency. We help providers prepare differently for each individual’s Villanova University in 2012 and is now focusing on introducing the con-
episode of care,” explains Mondschein. “MedTel provides the entire surgical team cept of interventional wellness to the South Florida community.
with an opportunity to understand the risks for each procedure so they are adequate- Prior to joining TFPS, Dr. Simkins worked as a cardiologist in two sepa-
ly prepared to deliver a successful outcome.” rate private practices and as Director of a Cardiac Catheterization
The bundled payment models which are defined as a single payment for all care Laboratory in Tamarac. His teaching experience includes being a preceptor
provided to a patient during a defined episode of care, are designed towards hospitals of senior medical student externships in cardiology with the Department of
and surgeons for improving both the clinical outcomes and lowering costs under Internal Medicine, North Broward Hospital District, University of Florida
value based care. The potential impact on hospitals is enormous. In fact, Medicare College of Medicine and Nova Southeastern College of Osteopathic
estimates that they will reduce their costs by over $170 million in five years by Medicine.
rewarding hospitals that take the steps necessary to produce better outcomes and
penalizing those who do not.
To help providers improve their ability to provide best-in-class surgical cardiac care
and to meet these new mandates, Medtel introduced the Medtel AIM (Assigned
Intervention Measure) last fall. This tool is a predictive model that helps providers
reduce readmissions by identifying amenable risk factors for each patient, so that care
givers can optimize each patient prior to surgery.
“We want to ensure that all members of the surgical team are on the same page at Bethesda Heart Hospital
the same time,” says Mondschein. “The entire team knows which patients are at risk,
identifies the risk factors, and suggests interventions to optimize each patient. In Selected for Cutting-Edge
doing so, you become more efficient, reduce your costs and improve your outcomes.”
National Clinical T rial to T reat
For more information or to schedule a demo, visit www.medtel.com.
Heart Failure Using Stem Cells
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With the tragic losses of celebrities George Michael, Florence Henderson,
editorial@southfloridahospitalnews.com Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, the cases of congestive heart failure (CHF)-
related deaths have risen dramatically. According to the American Heart
Association, it is estimated that heart failure affects more than 5 million people
in the United States and results from the heart’s inability to pump enough blood
to meet the body’s needs.
Under the leadership of Bethesda Health’s interventional cardiologist George
Daniel, M.D., doctors at Bethesda Heart Hospital and Bethesda’s Research Center,
in conjunction with Research Physicians Alliance (RPNA), are currently studying
a state-of-the-art treatment to end chronic heart failure (CHF) through a national
clinical trial called DREAM-HF-1.
Using stem-cells, the DREAM-HF-1 study aims to enhance the function of the
heart muscle by regenerating heart tissue and consequently enhance heart func-
tion. Because stem-cells are early-stage cells that can divide and renew them-
selves over time, they can either create new stem cells or become a new special-
ized cell, such as a heart cell.
The treatment being studied involves harvesting stem cells from healthy, allo-
genic donors, which can later be injected into the heart muscle of study partici-
pants via a catheterization procedure.
Bethesda Heart Hospital is one of 150 sites across the country participating in
this study, and interventional cardiologist George K. Daniel, M.D., is the princi-
pal investigator, with medical cardiologist Christina Michael, M.D., evaluating
the progress of study patients. Ideal candidates have suffered with congestive
heart failure for six months or longer.
The DREAM-HF-1 study’s key goals are to reduce mortality due to CHF , reduce
recurring hospitalizations due to CHF symptoms and promote improved physical
activity. By improving these factors, patients can enjoy a better quality of life.

14 February 2017 southfloridahospitalnews.com South Florida Hospital News