Health plan UnitedHealthcare launched a plan yesterday to name hospitals that agree to submit information on one aspect of cardiac care to a central registry. Under the program, UnitedHealthcare will certify hospitals as "premium" cardiac care centers if they agree to submit performance and outcomes data on their use of implantable cardiac defibrillators to the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator Registry (ICDR). The ICD registry, which was developed by the American College of Cardiology Foundation and Heart Rhythm Society, tracks hospitals' use of ICDs and related outcomes by tracking the devices' performance and reliability. Hospitals and physicians can use registry data to better determine which patients are good ICD candidates.
To learn more about this initiative:
- read this United Press International piece
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