Currently, 11 hospitals without surgery backup provide the service through a national study they participate in. The study is ending soon, which prompted the state to revisit the issue of which hospitals can provide elective angioplasty.
State Health Commissioner Mary E. O’Dowd said she plans to propose a rule allowing the 11 hospitals in the study to continue offering elective angioplasties until new regulations on heart procedures are reviewed and adopted, according to the report.
People in favor of allowing hospitals without surgery backup to perform the procedure say the practice is safe and it improves patients’ access to this service. Opponents say the practice may risk patients’ safety and that it reduces volume at hospitals with surgery backup.
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Regional Medical Center of Acadiana in Louisiana to Complete Heart Institute in December
