Case Studies
Mobilizing Care at Cone Health
Cone Health is one of the nation’s premier heart and vascular care centers due in part to its commitment to continuous improvement and investment in innovative technologies that improve patient care. The Cone Health team identified opportunities to streamline testing, achieve efficiencies in cath lab processes and improve the patient journey by reducing its reliance on stress testing for diagnosis of coronary artery disease. In seeking the most advanced solutions, the Cone Health team found HeartFlow in 2017.
As an early adopter of the CCTA-first pathway coupled with the HeartFlow Analysis, their cardiovascular program continues to demonstrate leadership in advancing the quality of heart and vascular care for patients. Hear key members of the Cone Health team discuss why they adopted the HeartFlow Analysis, the impact it’s had on patient care and key components of the program’s success in our latest case study.
Sheryl Booth
Executive Director Heart & Vascular
Dr. Katarina Nelson
CT Program Lead, Imaging Cardiologist
Dr. Henry Smith
Interventional Cardiologist
Sara Wallace
Nurse NavigatorSheryl Booth
Executive Director Heart & Vascular
“Looking at it from the broad overview that I have, we have a huge list of benefits that go along with having this technology.”
Dr. Katarina Nelson
CT Program Lead, Imaging Cardiologist
“The HeartFlow Analysis complements our anatomical images from Coronary CT with functional information, and it also helps procedural planning for the interventional cardiologists.”
Dr. Henry Smith
Interventional Cardiologist
“I am impressed by the high sensitivity and specificity that the HeartFlow Analysis brings to the management of patients with coronary artery disease and stable chest pain.”
Sara Wallace
Nurse Navigator
“It's really amazed me how much I've learned in the last few months about this technology and how the HeartFlow Analysis combines anatomy and function.”
Limitations of the Traditional Care Pathway
By initially relying on stress tests, such as SPECT and stress echo, with Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) alone used as backup, the Cone Health team experienced typical rates of false positives and false negatives. The team set three key improvement goals: reduce the number of tests required of patients, reduce diagnostic caths and identify patients at-risk of recurring chest pain earlier. By achieving these goals, Cone Health anticipated a reduction in radiation exposure for patients and care teams, improved cath lab efficiencies, better utilization of resources and a reduction in costs for both the health system and patients.
How HeartFlow Helps
Innovation
The HeartFlow Analysis is a non-invasive diagnostic test that helps physicians identify the impact that blockages have on blood flow to the heart. By leveraging a standard CT, the latest advancements in AI, cloud computing and computational physiology, physicians get both anatomic and physiologic information in one test. This powerful combination of information allows physicians to clearly identify problem areas before entering the cath lab. The results are presented as a color-coded 3D model of a patient’s arteries and are available as a web application via desktop or mobile. This technology enabled the Cone Health team to better triage patients without the capital expense or investment often required when adopting new technology.
“We were early adopters of technology that enables more comprehensive evaluation of coronary artery disease by providing both anatomical and functional information and improves patients' outcomes.”
— Katarina Nelson, MD
CT Program Lead, Imaging Cardiologist
HeartFlow Analysis Patient Case
HeartFlow is available from anywhere
We have a comprehensive IT review process for vetting applications that go on mobile devices. Because of the ease of use and the security associated with it, we didn't run into any major red flags. The approval actually went through smoother than others.
— Sheryl Booth, RT(R), MHA
Executive Director Heart & Vascular
Key Benefits
to Cone Health
- Improves diagnosis of coronary artery disease using CT + HeartFlow Analysis pathway
- Supports continued CT program growth, plus improved CT reading and acquisition
- Reduces high false positive diagnostic rates allowing for more appropriate use of the cath lab
- Facilitates procedural and treatment planning for interventionalists
- Simplifies workflows and improves efficiency
- Enables meaningful patient interactions, education and engagement with HeartFlow mobile
“It really is a go to test, especially for the low-to- intermediate, but now also the higher risk patients, and it's very accurate. So I love it! SPECT imaging is probably going to take a big hit in our institution.”
— Henry Smith, MD
of treatment plans changed after physicians evaluated patient care using the HeartFlow Analysis4
Adoption of the HeartFlow Analysis at Cone Health helped the team to further enhance their cardiac program — from growing their CCTA program to achieving greater cath lab efficiencies to strengthening team collaboration. Now with a growing CCTA program with expansion plans to include three scanning locations, eleven readers, and a growing network of referring providers, their passion for adopting advanced technology paired with a well-coordinated care team is a model of success. When administrator and physician goals are aligned, optimal patient care results.
Download our mobile app*, view a PDF of this page or share with a colleague by clicking above.
1. Arbab-Zadeh, Heart Int 2012. Yokota, et al. Neth Heart J 2018. Nakanishi, et al. J Nucl
Cardiol 2016.
2. Patel, et al. N Engl J Med 2010. Patel, et al. AHJ 2014. Danad, et al. JAMA Cardiology
2017.
3. Hoffmann, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009.
4. Fairbairn, et al. Euro Heart J 2018. Patel, et al. JACC CV Imaging 2019.
*Mobile approval required by your institution to enable access.
97255998 v1