As a proven leader in heart procedures, SpecialtyCare seamlessly integrates with your team—partnering to deliver tailored cardiac solutions for confidence at every turn. From perfusion and ECMO to cardiac autotransfusion and organ recovery, our experts support life‑saving procedures across the cardiac care continuum.
For operating rooms focused on cardiac care, we tailor our services to integrate with each program’s unique clinical and operational requirements. Our teams strive to be more than outsourced experts—we become indispensable members of your cardiac OR, ICU, and procedural teams.
We also support hospital and surgery center leaders navigating the growing complexities of healthcare. Our comprehensive suite of cardiac services—including perfusion solutions, ECMO programs, cell saver autotransfusion, and Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP)—enhances every facet of the operating room. By addressing both frontline clinical needs and system‑wide challenges, SpecialtyCare helps optimize operational efficiency, workforce stability, and patient care across the healthcare spectrum.
When the right cardiac team is in the room and operating at peak performance, patient outcomes, clinical results, and operational efficiency all improve. However, building and sustaining an optimized cardiac program is increasingly difficult. Shrinking margins, rising labor costs, and persistent staffing shortages—including hard‑to‑fill perfusion jobs, ECMO specialist roles, and autotransfusion jobs—create gaps that limit a hospital’s ability to serve patients.
Stopgap and substandard solutions only add complexity, requiring repeated investment of time and resources. Proven, integrated cardiac services offer a more sustainable path forward.
One out of every seven U.S. heart procedures is performed with SpecialtyCare, and we are the #1 provider of ECMO—a critical form of advanced life support—in the country.
Perfusion is a cornerstone of complex cardiac surgery. Our cardiac perfusionists are experts in operating the latest heart, lung, and circulatory equipment, including cardiopulmonary bypass and heart‑lung machines. Their deep understanding of perfusion meaning, physiology, and advanced technology allows them to adapt quickly during high‑acuity procedures.
Perfusion services are one of SpecialtyCare’s foundational strengths. Backed by extensive training, ongoing education, and proven perfusion programs, our teams integrate seamlessly into any OR environment. Nationwide, hospitals rely on SpecialtyCare to fill critical perfusion jobs with experienced, highly capable clinicians who drive safe, efficient outcomes in the cardiac OR.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation—commonly referred to as ECMO—is a form of advanced life support that acts as an artificial heart and lungs for patients with severe cardiac or respiratory failure. For clinicians and families alike, understanding what ECMO is, the ECMO procedure, and its role in critical care is essential.
Operating an ECMO machine requires extensive training, adaptability, and the ability to respond to rapid physiological changes. SpecialtyCare is the #1 ECMO provider in the country, supported by a deep bench of highly trained ECMO specialists. Our teams support hospitals with full ECMO programs, staffing, education, and ECMO training, ensuring your ORs and ICUs are prepared for the most complex cases.
Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is an advanced technique used in organ donation after circulatory death (DCD). For those asking what NRP is or what NRP stands for, it refers to restoring warm, oxygenated blood flow to organs to reduce ischemic injury prior to organ recovery.
NRP and organ perfusion technologies are transforming transplant medicine. SpecialtyCare supports hospitals and organ recovery organizations with expertise, staffing, and systems that improve the quality and viability of donated organs, strengthening outcomes across transplant programs.
Cardiac autotransfusion (ATS) is designed to boost a hospital’s blood management program by recycling the patient’s own blood.
We also offer and support the following cardiac services with staffing, equipment and consultation: Balloon Pump, PRP, VAD, and CCTs.
The success of an OR hinges on the ability of a highly skilled group of people to work together. We empower success by building relationships and becoming an integral, trusted part of the team. We take that trust seriously and strive to continually earn it.
Our deep well of experience has allowed us to create proven, repeatable solutions to the problems that prevent cardiac ORs from being as effective as they could be. Our real advantage, though, comes from our ability to take those proven solutions and customize them specifically to your hospital, OR, and team.
We continuously analyze performance, outcomes, and workflows to improve safety, efficiency, and patient care—never settling for the status quo.
Emerging in the 1950s, perfusion became a cornerstone of modern surgery with the advent of the heart-lung machine, enabling complex cardiac surgeries. Today, perfusion is vital in various specialties, including cardiac, vascular, and transplant surgeries, where it ensures that vital organs receive oxygen and nutrients during operations that temporarily halt normal circulation. Perfusionists, highly trained professionals, manage the heart-lung machine, ensuring stable blood flow, oxygenation, and temperature control during surgery. Their role is critical in maintaining patient stability, minimizing organ damage, and ensuring the success of the procedure. Examples of perfusion in action include coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), heart transplants, and complex valve surgeries. As medical technology advances, the expertise of perfusionists continues to play an essential role in improving patient outcomes across a wide range of surgical interventions.
Developed in the 1970s, ECMO uses a machine to oxygenate and remove carbon dioxide from the blood outside the body, allowing vital organs time to heal or function more effectively. Today, ECMO is crucial in the management of severe cardiac and respiratory failure, often used in conditions like acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), severe pneumonia, or heart failure after cardiac surgery. It is also applied in emergency situations like during a cardiac arrest or as a bridge to heart or lung transplantation. ECMO is typically managed by a specialized team, including perfusionists and certified ECMO specialists, who operate the ECMO circuit, monitoring blood flow, oxygenation, and anticoagulation therapy. The success of ECMO depends on precise coordination and expertise to optimize patient outcomes. It is most commonly used in intensive care units (ICU) but may also be utilized during surgery for high-risk patients. The expertise of perfusionists and ECMO specialists remains integral in ensuring effective management of this advanced life-support system.
First utilized in the early 2000s, NRP allows for improved organ preservation by providing oxygenated blood to organs at normal body temperature, which reduces ischemic injury and enhances graft function after transplantation. Today, NRP is increasingly important in expanding the donor organ pool, particularly for kidneys, livers, and hearts, offering a more effective means of preserving organs for transplantation in DCD donors. The procedure involves the use of a perfusion circuit, often managed by trained perfusionists, who ensure optimal blood flow and oxygenation to target organs. NRP is typically performed in the operating room or ICU, where precise control over circulation and temperature is vital. By providing better preservation and recovery of organs, NRP has become a crucial tool in improving transplant outcomes and increasing the number of viable donor organs. Perfusionists play a central role in this process, ensuring the proper functioning of the perfusion circuit and the safety of the patient and organ during the procedure.
Are you curious how a SpecialtyCare Cardiac Service can potentially make your operating room more efficient, safer for the patient, and staffed with a team that is low in turnover and high in clinical training?
