Cardiac
Proven, seamless partners
As a proven leader in heart procedures, SpecialtyCare seamlessly integrates with your team—partnering to deliver turn-key, tailored solutions for confidence at every turn.
Tailored Support for Cardiac ORs and Hospital Systems
For ORs focused on cardiac care, we tailor our services to integrate with their unique requirements, striving not just to be outsourced experts but indispensable team members. We also support hospital and surgery center leaders who navigate the complexities of healthcare, offering a comprehensive suite of services that enhance every facet of their operating rooms. By addressing both departmental needs and healthcare challenges, we play a crucial role in optimizing operational efficiency and patient care across the healthcare spectrum.
Cardiac Overview
Whether it is in the cardiac OR, ICU, or ER, success is dependent on having a team that is highly competent, highly efficient, and well-equipped with the tools they need.
When the right cardiac team is in the room and operating at its peak, patient outcomes, clinical performance and operational efficiency all improve.
The many challenges in creating an optimized cardiac program aren’t small. Margins continue to shrink, labor costs continue to rise, and staffing shortages create gaps that hamper your ability to serve patients. Stopgap and substandard solutions only create more problems, requiring additional time and resources to continually solve the same issues all over again.
One out of seven U.S. heart procedures are performed with SpecialtyCare and we are the #1 provider of ECMO in the country.
Cardiac Services
Perfusion
Our perfusionists are experts in operating the latest heart, lung, and circulatory equipment. Their robust knowledge of these complex machines, paired with their ability to integrate seamlessly with any OR team, make them an invaluable part of a successful operating room.
Perfusion and cardiac operations are one of the cornerstones of our expertise and experience. One out of every seven heart procedures is done with a SpecialityCare perfusionist in the room. Relied upon nationwide, we are your trusted partner in the cardiac OR.
ECMO
Acting as an artificial set of heart and lungs, Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is used in complex and high-stakes procedures where many other options aren’t viable. Operating an ECMO machine takes immense skill and training, as well as the ability to rapidly adapt to any changes during the operation.
SpecialtyCare is the #1 provider of ECMO in the country, thanks to our deep pool of highly trained experts. When you partner with us, you can be confident that your cardiac OR will always have capable people ready to step in to any procedure.
NRP
Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is a new technique for organ donation after circulatory death (DCD) and is considered a promising way to reduce or reverse ischemic injury associated with this type of donation.
Cardiac Autotransfusion
Cardiac autotransfusion (ATS) is designed to boost a hospital’s blood management program by recycling the patient’s own blood.
Ancillary Services
We also offer and support the following cardiac services with staffing, equipment and consultation: Balloon Pump, PRP, VAD, and CCTs.
We Don’t Just Meet Standards, We Set Them
An integrated part of your team
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.
Customizing a proven approach to your needs
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.
Continual data-driven improvement
We’re never satisfied with status-quo. We are constantly collecting data and analyzing it in order to better our own performance. Together, this helps us conduct procedures more safely and efficiently — leading to better patient care.
Cardiac Terms Explained
Perfusion is the process of delivering oxygenated blood to tissues and organs during medical procedures, typically when the heart is temporarily stopped or its function is bypassed.
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.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving technique that provides prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to patients whose heart and lungs are unable to function adequately.
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.
Normothermic Regional Perfusion (NRP) is an advanced technique that involves the use of a controlled, normothermic (normal body temperature) blood flow to preserve organ viability during transplantation, typically in the context of organ donation after circulatory death (DCD).
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.
Benefits
Hospitals
- We solve some of the most difficult staffing shortages
- We reduce your costs through efficiency
- We leverage data as a powerful tool for continual improvement
Surgeons
- Our clinicians are highly credentialed and exceptionally capable, leading to better patient outcomes
- We are long-term partners, allowing you to form a core team that you trust implicitly
- Expand the range of surgeries you can offer by partnering with our highly trained team
WANT TO FIND OUT HOW SPECIALTYCARE’S CARDIAC SERVICES CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR OPERATING ROOM?
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?