Heart Surgeon Insights: Optimal Patient Care Through Innovation

Heart disease remains the leading cause of death throughout the world. However, breakthrough discoveries, medical research and innovations are lowering that burden drastically.

To learn how leading cardiac centers are using innovation to generate excellent outcomes and patient-centric experiences, we met with three leading heart valve surgeons from the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern Medicine.

History and Culture of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute

First, we spoke with Dr. Patrick McCarthy, the Executive Director of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. Dr. McCarthy and his team have treated thousands of heart valve patients with excellent outcomes and innovations specific to devices and therapies.

Here are the key insights shared by Dr. McCarthy:

• Can you share the history of the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute? “The Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute started on Valentine’s Day in 2005,” said Dr. McCarthy. “We’re hitting 20 years now, which it’s been a great journey. We went from 250 heart operations a year to 2,700 this year. We knew we arrived because we weren’t even ranked in U.S. News and World Report when we started. Ten short years later, we were in the top 10 in the country, and we’ve been there ever since. For me, I came home to Chicago. Neil Bluhm grew up a poor kid in Chicago and wanted a great heart center there, so people didn’t have to leave and go elsewhere.”

• How has the team at Blum Cardiovascular Institute grown to address all these cardiac diseases and valve therapies? “You know, it’s important that you mention the word team there because we function as a team,” said Dr. McCarthy. “In business, they talk about that. It’s not just strategy. We had a strategy, but it’s also culture. If you go there, you will find that the nurses, the people who greet you when you get off the elevator, and the doctors are all really proud of what we have been doing. A lot of it is also about the leadership of Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. Dr. Doug Johnston has done a remarkable job by bringing other very talented physicians along with him. We’re one of the only places in the world with American Heart Association presidents. I mean, we were just blessed.”

Early Patient Intervention and the FAST Program

Next, we spoke with Dr. Douglas Johnston, the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine, about the struggles and challenges patients face as they go through the heart valve surgery process.

Here are the key insights shared by Dr. Johnston:

• How has the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute at Northwestern worked to address patients’ emotional and physical challenges? “Getting a new diagnosis of cardiovascular disease is incredibly difficult for patients,” said Dr. Johnston. “We’ve realized that it’s very important to get to patients early to answer their questions and have someone guide them through the process. That’s why we’ve created what we call the FAST Program.”

• What is the FAST Program? Dr. Johnston explained, “The FAST Program is really a personalized care program where we provide an expert nurse coordinator who will contact the patient within 24 hours of reaching out to us. They answer questions, guide them through the process, and coordinate all of the care so we can get the patient a virtual appointment with a surgeon or cardiologist as soon as possible. Our goal is that the patient only needs to make one visit to see us in person at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, usually for their procedure or their surgery, and everything else is remote.”

• The FAST Program has increased patient satisfaction. “With this approach, we’ve grown to 48,000 new patient visits annually, and we see patients from 27 countries and all 50 states. We’re seeing that the results, in terms of patient satisfaction, are very positive. Surveys tell us that 95 percent of patients would recommend their heart physician after coming to us through the FAST Program at Northwestern.”

Clinical Research and Technology

Finally, we met with Dr. Chris Malaisrie, a leading cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Medicine, to talk about their continuing research at the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute.

Here are the key insights shared by Dr. Malaisrie:

• How is the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute using research to help heart valve patients with new devices and next-generation techniques? “Well, right now, we have over 10,000 active research participants in over 100 clinical trials,” said Dr. Malaisrie. “And we’ve seen a five-fold increase in study enrollment over that period. Also, our faculty has secured over $120 million in active NIH grants. This research not only helps us inform our practice but also allows us to share the findings on optimal treatments for our patients and physicians all around the world.”

• How else is the Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute shaping the future of heart valve disease care? “We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation and developing leading-edge technology, advancing heart valve disease research using artificial intelligence, offering rare procedures, including the Ross Procedure, and incorporating minimally invasive robotic procedures. This innovation has led to excellent patient outcomes, including the highest heart failure success rate in the nation,” said Dr. Malaisrie.

Thanks Dr. McCarthy, Johnston, Malaisrie, and Northwestern Medicine!

On behalf of all the patients in our community, thank you, Dr. Patrick McCarthy, Dr. Douglas Johnston, and Dr. Chris Malaisrie, for everything you and your team are doing at Northwestern Medicine!

Related Links:

• Learn More About Dr. Patrick McCarthy
• Get to Know Dr. Doug Johnston in this Surgeon Spotlight
• Find Out More About Dr. Malaisrie’s Approach to Heart Surgery

Keep on tickin,
Adam

P.S. For the deaf and hard-of-hearing members of our patient community, we have provided a written transcript of our interview with Dr. McCarthy, Dr. Johnston, and Dr. Malaisrie below.