Barry Katzen, M.D., FACR, FACC, FSIR – Attending Physician, Miami Cardiac and Vascular Institute
Purpose: Introduce the vascular center as a practice model to trainees who may be underexposed to this focused delivery of vascular care.
Material and Methods: Literature published since the conception of the vascular center was reviewed, including journal articles and practice building lectures. The origin of the vascular center will be detailed. Operational experiences will be presented from private and academic centers. This exhibit will offer perspectives from vascular centers as it relates to the management of vascular disease, complimentary skillset of interventional radiologists (IR) and vascular surgeons, technological innovations, practice building, and economic strategies.
Results: This model of focused, high-quality vascular care was cultivated from ideas that vascular and interventional procedures offer patients great benefit, while the performing physician should provide clinical care and close follow-up. The vascular center is a model that integrates the knowledge, skills, and practices of IR and vascular surgeons to provide diagnosis, preventative measures, and treatment of patients with vascular disease. Here, both parties share a knowledge of each other’s skills and sensitivity for when they should be applied. This provides the framework for potential multidisciplinary collaboration. Hostile turf wars leave everyone at a disadvantage, including the common patient base. An excellent platform for partnership with industry, vascular centers have fostered emerging technologies for endovascular treatment including the continued evolution of the vascular suite. The integration of vascular surgery, IR, and cardiology services into one package, with its own outcomes and cost statistics, places vascular centers in an advantageous position to bargain in a competitive health services market. To further bargain with healthcare purchasers in a geographic area and to better position themselves against reimbursement cuts, practices can merge to form networks.
Conclusions: The vascular center is a model that provides focused high-quality care for patients with vascular disease. With a common patient base, this model offers a potential framework for multidisciplinary collaboration for which patients are the greatest beneficiaries.