Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona

10/02/2024

What is open enrollment and how to navigate the confusion

https://www.uclahealth.org/news/article/open-enrollment-signing-up-health-insurance?utm_campaign=enterprise_aw_open-enrollment&utm_term=20241002-VitalSigns-Newsletter-Fall2024&utm_medium=email&utm_source=eloqua_owned&elqcontactid=1378470 

Breadcrumb Home News & Insights Open enrollment: Signing up for health insurance Confused? Take a look at these tips and FAQs. October 18, 2023 By Sandy Cohen 6 min read If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the open enrollment process — the annual period when you can renew or change your medic...

12/06/2023

Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona P.C. ("HVCA"), a leading independent cardiovascular physician practice has merged its operations with Cardiovascular Associates of America ("CVAUSA").

HVCA offers a full suite of cardiovascular services, including cardiology, electrophysiology, vein and vascular treatments, ambulatory surgery, office-based lab solutions, and cardiovascular imaging to a patient base across two clinical locations and numerous hospitals in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Read more about Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona here. www.heartcenteraz.com

Cardiovascular Associates of America, a portfolio group of Webster Equity Partners, is a physician-led network committed to leading cardiology into a value-based future that benefits patients, partnering with payers, primary care groups, and more to transform care delivery. Learn more about CVAUSA here www.cvausa.com

CVAUSA empowers cardiovascular specialists to transform patient care. Our MSO healthcare experts provide the technology & support you need to improve your cardiology practice.

05/27/2023

04/17/2023

MCMS Member Practice: Heart & Vascular Center of Arizona

Thankful to Heart and Vascular Center of Arizona for their continued support of through their 2023 membership. Thank you Nathan Laufer, MD, Adam Brodsky, MD, Parminder Singh, MD, Jason Klein, MD, Edward Evans, MD, Reza Mazoomi, MD, and Richard Heuser, MD for your Maricopa County Medical Society membership.

Please visit them at https://heartcenteraz.com/

12/13/2022

YOUR HEALTH - Wall Street Journal
Why Heart Attacks Rise During the Holiday Season

Heart problems are more common in December, but watching for symptoms and getting early care can help.
By Sumathi Reddy

People often put off going to the doctor during the holidays, but they shouldn’t ignore signs of heart problems that can arise during the festive season.

Winter and especially the holidays are the time when heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems spike, doctors say. More cardiac deaths happen on Dec. 25, Dec. 26 and Jan. 1 than on any other days of the year, research has shown. Heart disease, which includes heart attacks, is the leading cause of death in the U.S. year-round.
Other heart problems such as heart failure, when the heart can’t pump enough blood and oxygen to support other organs,also increase around the winter holidays, cardiologists say. So does atrial fibrillation, an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm. Emergency department visits for atrial fibrillation in California, for instance, are significantly higher during Christmas and New Year’s, according to research published this year in Nature Cardiovascular Research.
Heart-related medical problems increase during the winter probably in part because respiratory viruses and cold weather cause some constriction of the blood vessels, which may put more pressure on the heart. Respiratory viruses, including Covid-19 and flu, can affect breathing and oxygen levels and lead to inflammation. And the holidays add extra disruptions to routines, diet and sleep that can heighten the risks.

Holiday disruptions
One big problem during the holidays, cardiologists say: People are less likely to seek medical care and more likely to forget to take their medications.
People experiencing mild symptoms often put off going to the doctor until the New Year because they are busy or traveling, says Mitch Elkind, chief clinical science officer for the American Heart Association and a stroke neurologist at Columbia University in Manhattan. Elderly people who rely on caregivers may have a hard time getting to the doctor if their caregiver is away.
Stress from travel, family gatherings, less sleep and busy schedules also contributes to heart issues. “It’s important to remember to pace yourself,” says Tina Shah, a cardiologist for Kaiser Permanente in Seattle.

Changes in diet
Indulgent holiday meals—especially ones high in salt—contribute to heart issues. So can alcohol.
Dr. Shah says she sees heart failure get worse in patients who aren’t careful with their salt intake and dietary and beverage choices. Fluid can build up in such patients, causing shortness of breath and requiring treatment with IV medications.
One salty, unhealthy meal can be enough to trigger symptoms and excessive fluid buildup, she says. People’s risk of having a heart attack is about four times as high within two hours of eating a heavy meal, according to research presented at the AHA conference in 2000.

For people with high blood pressure, a single meal high in sodium can bump up blood pressure significantly, says John A. Osborne, a cardiologist in Dallas.

Alcohol can present particular risks for people with atrial fibrillation.Studies have shown that when people with atrial fibrillation drink more alcohol, they have an increased risk of an AF episode within four hours, says Gregory M. Marcus, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Even one drink heightens their risk about twofold,” says Dr. Marcus.
He recommends that people with atrial fibrillation minimize their alcohol intake or avoid drinking completely.

Warning signs
With heart issues, the earlier you seek care, the better the outcome. So it’s important to get care immediately if you have warning signs, cardiologists say.

Signs of a heart attack can include chest pain, often described as a feeling of pressure, or like an elephant is sitting on your chest, cardiologists say. Sometimes pain can occur in the left arm, neck or jaw, and some people experience shortness of breath.
In women, heart-attack symptoms can differ. They can include nausea, lightheadedness, back pain and fatigue.
Signs of heart failure include shortness of breath, especially if you haven’t done any physical activity, and swelling in your legs, says Dr. Shah. Bloating or stomach discomfort is another possible symptom, as is loss of appetite, she says.

A dry cough that doesn’t go away is another red flag. So is sudden weight gain—perhaps 2 to 3 pounds overnight, or 5 pounds over a week, Dr. Shah says.

What to do
If a family member or friend experiences heart-attack symptoms, call 911 or get them to the emergency department, doctors say. If someone collapses and appears to be in cardiac arrest, call 911 and start cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
The American Heart Association recommends using hands-only CPR, which you can learn through a video on its website. Chest compressions are conducted with one hand on top of the other at the rate of about 100 per minute.
Don’t dismiss symptoms, even though they can be confused with other common ailments, such as heartburn.
“Don’t assume you know what it is. Get it checked out,” Dr. Elkind says.

09/11/2022

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09/08/2022

California approves a bill to punish doctors who spread false information

Trying to strike a balance between free speech and public health, California’s Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would allow regulators to punish doctors for spreading false information about Covid-19 vaccinations and treatments.

The legislation, if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, would make the state the first to try to legislate a remedy to a problem that the American Medical Association, among other medical groups and experts, says has worsened the impact of the pandemic, resulting in thousands of unnecessary hospitalizations and deaths.

The law would designate spreading false or misleading medical information to patients as “unprofessional conduct,” subject to punishment by the agency that licenses doctors, the Medical Board of California. That could include suspending or revoking a doctor’s license to practice medicine in the state.

While the legislation has raised concerns over freedom of speech, the bill’s sponsors said the extensive harm caused by false information required holding incompetent or ill-intentioned doctors accountable.

“In order for a patient to give informed consent, they have to be well informed,” said State Senator Richard Pan, a Democrat from Sacramento and a co-author of the bill. A pediatrician himself and a prominent proponent of stronger vaccination requirements, he said the law was intended to address “the most egregious cases” of deliberately misleading patients.

California’s legislation reflects the growing political and regional divisions that have dogged the pandemic from the beginning. Other states have gone in the other direction, seeking to protect doctors from punishment by regulatory boards, including for advocating treatments involving hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin and other medications that the American Medical Association says remain unproven.

If enacted, the law could face a legal challenge. Governor Newsom, who has three weeks to sign the legislation, has not yet taken a public position on it.

While other nations have criminalized the spread of vaccine misinformation — and have higher vaccination rates — the response by states and the U.S. government has largely been limited to combating misconceptions with accurate information, said Michelle M. Mello, a professor of law and health policy at Stanford University.

She noted that even laws that cited a “compelling interest,” like public health and safety, to police disinformation ran the risk of having a chilling effect, a First Amendment standard for many courts.

“Initiatives like this will be challenged in court and will be hard to sustain,” she said in an interview. “That doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea.”

California’s response follows a warning last year by the national Federation of State Medical Boards that licensing boards should do more to discipline doctors who share false claims. The American Medical Association has also warned that spreading disinformation violates the code of ethics that licensed doctors agree to follow.

The measure was among a flurry of Covid-related bills proposed by a legislative working group that drew fierce opposition from lawmakers and voters. Some of the most contentious bills have stalled or died, including one that would have required all California schoolchildren to be vaccinated.

As the legislation moved through the Legislature, its sponsors narrowed its scope to deal directly with doctors’ direct interaction with patients. It does not address comments online or on television, though those have been the cause of some of the most impactful instances of Covid misinformation and disinformation.

“Inaccurate information spread by physicians can have pernicious influences on individuals with widespread negative impact, especially through the ubiquity of smartphones and other internet-connected devises on wrists, desktops and laptops reaching across thousands of miles to other individuals in an instant,” the Federation of State Medical Boards wrote in a report in April. “Physicians’ status and titles lend credence to their claims.”

The legislation would not require the suspension or revocation of a doctor’s license, leaving such determinations to the Medical Board of California. It is intended to make the dissemination of false information about Covid-19 subject to the same rules as other kinds of “unprofessional conduct” taken up by the board.

The legislation defines disinformation as falsehoods “deliberately disseminated with malicious intent or an intent to mislead.” Treading into the at times contentious debates over alternative, often unproven Covid treatments, the bill defines misinformation as spreading information “that is contradicted by contemporary scientific consensus contrary to the standard of care.”

It says doctors have “a duty to provide their patients with accurate, science-based information.” That would include the use of approved vaccines, which have been subject to fierce debates and political activism across the country, though there is broad agreement among medical professionals about their effectiveness.

A group called Physicians for Informed Consent opposed the legislation, saying it would silence doctors. The group filed a lawsuit this month to seek an injunction preventing the Medical Board of California from disciplining doctors based on accusations of disinformation. In its lawsuit, it called the legislation’s definition of misinformation “hopelessly vague.”

In a recent letter to Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, James L. Madara, chief executive of the American Medical Association, said disinformation swirling around vaccines had contributed to ignorance among the public that had worsened the pandemic’s impact.

“The most unfortunate result of this has been significant vaccine hesitancy and refusal among certain communities and within certain demographics, ultimately resulting in continued higher rates of severe illness, hospitalization and death due to Covid-19 in these populations — outcomes largely preventable with vaccination,” he wrote.

This article first appeared on The New York Times and was republished with permission. Copyright: c.2022 The New York Times Company

08/28/2022

07/04/2022

Happy 4th

04/03/2022

More than 6️⃣ million Americans have heart failure. Do your patients know the symptoms? Download the infographic recently updated to reflect the new ACC/AHA/HFSA Heart Failure . Learn more ➡️ bit.ly/3NBPCvk