With a direct target on streamlining the cardiovascular care pathway, GE HealthCare and Belgian healthcare organization Mediport announced the launch of the first One-Stop Clinic for Cardiology – a new kind of cardiology clinic that provides patients with same-day diagnoses and care.
- The One-Stop Cardiology Clinic is now operating at Mediport’s new multidisciplinary healthcare center in Antwerp, which integrates a range of specialties that place a shared focus on streamlining care (cardiology, radiology, urology, more).
Although every cardiovascular patient is unique, Mediport and GE HealthCare mapped out a standardized diagnostic and treatment pathway covering everything from CV wellness checks to stable chest pain:
- First, patients undergo a history and bloodwork assessment
- Then, they receive ECG and ultrasound exams
- Next, patients meet with cardiologists who either discharges them or recommends further testing (often CT, stress test, or holster assignment)
- And finally, patients receive their diagnosis and care plan prior to leaving
Although this is its first cardiology One-Stop Clinic, GE has been supporting One-Stop Clinic breast cancer clinics for nearly 20 years, starting at France’s Gustave Roussy cancer center in 2004, and since expanding to several breast cancer centers in South America and the United States.
Those One-Stop breast cancer clinics seem to have delivered. Of the over 21k women who have attended the Gustave Roussy clinic…
- 80% received same day results
- The vast majority received accurate diagnoses (98.4% sensitivity, 99.8% specificity)
- Most achieved significant cost reductions (-50% w/ benign cases, -33% w/ malignant cases).
The Takeaway
Although a quick online search reveals that there’s a growing number of same-day or one-stop cardiovascular care options, this model is still rare. But if GE and Mediport’s One-Stop Cardiology Clinic delivers the type of benefits that they’re targeting, it could give provider orgs more motivation to streamline their own cardiovascular operations.
