Biochemistry

Biological network helps body adapt to stresses on health – Utah Business

An analysis of 33 human proteins involved in converting carbohydrates into fuel found 830 interactions with metabolites.

Werediscovering how nature has evolved to drug its own proteins and pathways, saysJared Rutter, Ph.D., distinguished professor in the Department of Biochemistry at University of Utah and the studys corresponding author.By following natures lead, were learning how to make better therapeutics.

These findingsand the technology that made them possiblehas become the basis for the biotechnology companyAtavistik Bio, co-founded by Rutter. The company is leveraging this new understanding to accelerate drug discovery for metabolic diseases and cancer.

At a more fundamental level, Rutter says, the advance deepens knowledge about how cells and our bodies work.

A New Frontier

The network described in the study represents an underappreciated layer of regulation in cells that comes from an unexpected source. For nearly 20 years, Rutters lab has researched metabolism, the chemical reactions that produce energy and build essential components to keep cells running smoothly. Their new research finds that intermediate products of those chemical reactions are more than passive building blocks and sources of fuel for cells, as had long been thought.

Instead, these intermediate products, along with other metabolites, make up an expansive web of sentries that monitor the environment and prompt cells to adapt when needed. They do this by interacting with proteins and modifying how they work. Does a big meal pump too many carbs in the body? Or too much fat? Like a railroad switch that guides a train onto a new track, these protein-metabolite interactions shift metabolic operations to break down those nutrients and steady the course.

The studys first author Kevin Hicks, Ph.D., developed a new technology, termed MIDAS, that reveals the enormity of the regulatory network that acts as an interface between environmental cues and cell metabolism, called the protein-metabolite interactome. The highly sensitive technique identified interactions that had never been seen. An analysis of 33 human proteins involved in converting carbohydrates into fuel found 830 interactions with metabolites. Given that there are thousands of proteins in the cell, the full scale of the network is predicted to be much larger.

Its surprising how little we knowabout the extent of these interactions, Hicks says. We are pushing our understanding of the biological

network in new directions.

Metabolic processes that become derailed can lead to illness and disease. Rutter and Hicks say that shedding light on additional interactions in the network will lead to a better understanding of root causes of diseasesand the development of new therapeutic approaches for getting things back on track.

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Biological network helps body adapt to stresses on health - Utah Business

Biochemistry

Researchers develop a drug effective in a rar – EurekAlert

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, March 21, 2023 Statins are the most commonly used medication in lowering blood cholesterol, prescribed to tens of millions in the Western world. Statins act through inhibition of the enzyme HMG CoA reductase. Nearly 20% of statin users develop muscle symptoms (statin myopathy) including weakness and pain. In about 1%, this myopathy is severe and does not subside months after cessation of statin treatment.

A research team from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Soroka Medical Center discovered a severe hereditary muscle disease that develops around the age of 40 years, progressing by the early 50s to complete immobility of the limbs and the chest muscles, necessitating full-time artificial ventilation and eventually culminating in death. They went on to demonstrate that the disease is caused by a mutation in the gene encoding HMG CoA reductase, inhibiting the enzymes activity.

Attempting to cure the severe hereditary disease, the research group synthesized and purified Methylmevalonolactone, the normal product of HMG CoA reductase, which is lacking in those patients. Following testing for safety in mice, the team got an exceptional compassionate use permit to give the novel medication, never given to humans before, to the most severely affected patient, who was near death - completely immobile and fully dependent on artificial ventilation. The patient has now been treated with the medication (orally, 3 times a week) for more than a year, with no side effects.

Not only did she stop deteriorating, she has improved dramatically: she can breathe without support for hours at a time, move her arms and legs extensively and even feed her grandchild. Other patients, some of whom are already in late stages of the disease, are awaiting treatment. The researchers estimate that there are dozens to hundreds of people affected by this hereditary disease that could benefit from this effective life-saving treatment.

Based on the successful treatment of the hereditary disease, the research group went on to test whether the medication can be effective in the treatment of the non-remitting muscle problems occurring in ~1% of statin users. Indeed, they showed that the medication was extremely effective in a mouse model system mimicking the human statin myopathy. This is the first study to link muscle pain and weakness to statin use.

The entire research from the human genetics and biochemistry studies to generation and purification of the medication, to the human and mouse trials were done as part of the PhD thesis of Dr. Yuval Yogev, guided by Prof. Ohad Birk, head of the Morris Kahn Laboratory of Human Genetics at Ben-Gurion University and director of the clinical genetics institute at Soroka Medical Center. Prof. Birk is also a member of the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN).

The study, published last monthin the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was supported by the Israel Science Foundation.

Based on the findings, the research team are now seeking financial support / collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry to push forward standardized production and licensing of the medication, to save the lives of many individuals worldwide suffering from this hereditary disorder, as well as enabling treatment of tens of thousands of statin-myopathy patients. It should be noted that the FDA procedures are more lenient in licensing medications for rare diseases, thus rapid progress is expected in this regard.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Experimental study

People

Limb girdle muscular disease caused by HMGCR mutation and statin myopathy treatable with mevalonolactone

6-Feb-2023

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Biochemistry

CD Formulation Provides Pharmaceutical Testing on Tablet Fragility … – Digital Journal

PRESS RELEASE

Published March 22, 2023

New York, USA - March 22, 2023 - Pharmaceutical testing is a must to ensure that all medications meet the top quality, safety, and performance requirements before they enter the market. CD Formulation's cGMP-compliant laboratory is well-equipped to identify both the chemical and structural composition of each drug substance. More recently, the company announced to broaden its service range to tablet fragility test, dissolution test, and disintegration test.

"Staffed with a group of pharmaceutical experts specialized in chemistry, biochemistry, and engineering, CD Formulation has grown to be one of the finest contract service organizations. Our testing laboratories have both expertise and experience to handle the most complex formulation problems," said the Marketing Chief of CD Formulation. "Our analysis and testing services will support pharmaceutical companies at every step and phase of the drug development lifecycle, making sure the entire drug development process complies with the latest regulatory standards and requirements."

Below are some of the testing services newly introduced by CD Formulation:

Tablet Fragility Test

The tablet fragility test is purposed to determine the resistance of tablets against mechanical stress, both shaking and erosion. Theoretically speaking, the higher the percentage of fragility, the greater the loss of tablet life. The physical and chemical properties and stability of API have a great influence on the friability of tablets. Other factors such as excipients and the production process will influence tablet fragility as well. CD Formulation's experienced analysis experts can perform tablet fragility tests by pharmacopeia methods, helping clients to conduct an appropriate risk assessment of the finished drug.

Dissolution Test

Drug dissolution test is a standardized method for measuring the release rate of a drug from a given dosage form, which helps to evaluate the performance of a drug. CD Formulation's dissolution testing is performed under specified conditions according to specific applicable pharmacopoeial standards, such as Four Dissolution Apparatuses Standardized, USP Dissolution Apparatus 1 - Basket (37 C 0.5C), USP Dissolution Apparatus 2 - Paddle (37C 0.5C), USP Dissolution Apparatus 3 - Reciprocating Cylinder (37 C 0.5C), and USP Dissolution Apparatus 4 - Flow-Through Cell (37 C 0.5C).

Disintegration Test

The disintegration test is to evaluate the ability of a sample, mostly tablets, capsules, and enteric-coated tablets, to break into smaller particles under standard conditions. The results will provide critical safety data on the bioavailability of drugs in vivo without the use of in vivo methods. At CD Formulation, a series of methods such as the test-tube method, sieve method with shaker, sieve method, and pharmacopoeial method are used to test disintegration for drugs.

Please visit the website https://www.formulationbio.com/analytical.html to learn more.

About

Successfully solving drug formulation and delivery issues for its global customers is always the goal of CD Formulation. Equipped with advanced facilities that comply with GMP regulations, CD Formulation is of great help to pharmaceutical companies during the progress of formulation, from initial pre-formulation trials to commercial manufacturing. Moreover, after years of untiring efforts, the company has also extended its product lines to pharmaceutical excipients, cosmetic ingredients, food ingredients, offering almost 1,000 excipients or raw materials across the globe.

Media ContactCompany Name: CD FormulationContact Person: Helen SmithEmail: Send EmailPhone: 1-631-372-1052Country: United StatesWebsite: https://www.formulationbio.com

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CD Formulation Provides Pharmaceutical Testing on Tablet Fragility ... - Digital Journal

Biochemistry

Co-infection with superbug bacteria increases SARS-CoV-2 replication up to 15 times – Newswise

Newswise Global data shows nearly 10 per cent of severe COVID-19 cases involve a secondary bacterial co-infection with Staphylococcus aureus, also known as Staph A., being the most common organism responsible for co-existing infections with SARS-CoV-2. Researchers at Western have found if you add a superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) into the mix, the COVID-19 outcome could be even more deadly.

The mystery of how and why these two pathogens, when combined, contribute to the severity of the disease remains unsolved. However, a team of Western researchers has made significant progress toward solving this whodunit.

New research byMariya Goncheva,Richard M. Gibson, Ainslie C. Shouldice,Jimmy D. DikeakosandDavid E. Heinrichs, has revealed that IsdA, a protein found in all strains of Staph A., enhanced SARS-CoV-2 replication by 10- to 15-fold. The findings of this study are significant and could help inform the development of new therapeutic approaches for COVID-19 patients with bacterial co-infections.

Interestingly, the study, which was recently published iniScience, also showed that SARS-CoV-2 did not affect the bacterias growth. This was contrary to what the researchers had initially expected.

We started with an assumption that SARS-CoV-2 and hospitalization due to COVID-19 possibly caused patients to be more susceptible to bacterial infections which eventually resulted in worse outcomes, said Goncheva, who is a former postdoctoral associate, previously with the department of microbiology and immunology at Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Goncheva said bacterial infections are most commonly acquired in hospital settings and hospitalization increases the risk of co-infection. Bacterial infections are one of the most significant complications of respiratory viral infections such as COVID-19 and Influenza A. Despite the use of antibiotics, 25 per cent of patients co-infected with SARS-CoV-2 and bacteria, die as a result. This is especially true for patients who are hospitalized, and even more so for those in intensive care units. We were interested in finding why this happens, said Goncheva, lead investigator of the study.

Goncheva, currently Canada Research Chair in virology and professor of biochemistry and microbiology at the University of Victoria, studied the pathogenesis of multi-drug resistant bacteria (such as MRSA) supervised by Heinrichs, professor of microbiology and immunology at Schulich Medicine & Dentistry.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, she pivoted to study interactions between MRSA and SARS-CoV-2.

For this study, conducted at Westerns level 3 biocontainment lab, Imaging Pathogens for Knowledge Translation (ImPaKT), Gonchevas work created an out-of-organism laboratory model to study the interactions between SARS-CoV-2 and MRSA, a difficult-to-treat multi-drug resistant bacteria.

At the beginning of the pandemic, the then newly opened ImPaKT facility made it possible for us to study the interactions between live SARS-CoV-2 virus and MRSA. We were able to get these insights into molecular-level interactions due to the technology at ImPaKT, said Heinrichs, whose lab focuses on MRSA and finding drugs to treat MRSA infections. The next step would be to replicate this study in relevant animal models.

Read the full text of the studyhere.

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Co-infection with superbug bacteria increases SARS-CoV-2 replication up to 15 times - Newswise

Biochemistry

UTEP Joins Project to 3D Print Batteries from Lunar and Martian Soil – The University of Texas at El Paso

EL PASO, Texas (March 22, 2023) The University of Texas at El Paso has joined a project led by NASA to leverage 3D-printing processes with the aim of manufacturing rechargeable batteries using lunar and Martian regolith, which is the top layer of materials that covers the surface of the moon and Mars.

UTEP has joined a project led by NASA to leverage 3D-printing processes with the aim of manufacturing rechargeable batteries using lunar and Martian regolith, which is the top layer of materials that covers the surface of the moon and Mars. Photo by JR Hernandez / UTEP Marketing and Communications

UTEP is a national leader in additive manufacturing for space applications, said Kenith Meissner, Ph.D., dean of the UTEP College of Engineering. I congratulate the team of UTEP researchers involved in this important work. I am confident their work will add significant value to this project, getting us closer to a return to the moon and our first forays beyond.

UTEPs $615,000 grant is part of a $2.5 million project that includes Youngstown State University (YSU), 3D printer manufacturer Formlabs, as well as ICON, the private sector company currently leading the NASA Mars Dune Alpha project aiming to 3D print future habitats on Mars.

The long-term goal of the project is to maximize the sustainability of astronauts' future lunar and Martian missions by reducing payload weight and dead volume. The utilization of local resources widely available on the moon or Mars is crucial to develop infrastructure such as habitation modules, power generation and energy storage facilities.

UTEP is a seminal partner in this NASA-led project with our long and deep heritage in additive manufacturing, said Eric MacDonald, Ph.D., professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering and associate dean in the UTEP College of Engineering. UTEPs reputation in 3D printing, material science and our state-of-the-art facilities were important factors in convincing our NASA partners to pursue this potentially transformative research for space exploration but for terrestrial applications of batteries as well.

ACS Energy Letters, a peer-reviewed journal from the American Chemical Society, published an article titled What Would Battery Manufacturing on the Moon and Mars Look Like? in January, detailing the progress UTEP and NASA researchers have already made on this project.

The published work highlights two types of 3D-printing processes material extrusion (ME) and vat photopolymerization (VPP) to produce shape-conformable batteries on the moon and Mars.

Shape-conformable batteries are complex 3D battery designs that outperform existing commercial batteries because of their ability to fill the dimensions of objects. Such tailored batteries are especially well-suited for applications in small spacecraft, portable power devices, robots, and large-scale power systems for moon and Mars habitat missions.

Another potential outcome of this work is the development of shape-conformable batteries that can be used on Earth. These batteries could be embedded in 3D-printed concrete walls and connected to solar power generation to create compact, self-sustaining homes for disaster response and in developing countries.

While commercial lithium-ion batteries can be found in most of todays applications, manufacturing lithium-ion batteries from lunar and Martian soil is not a viable option since lithium is scarcely available on the moon. For this project, the UTEP research team is currently focusing their work on sodium-ion battery chemistry, based on the greater abundance of sodium.

This project with NASA is an opportunity to demonstrate UTEPs expertise in both energy storage and 3D printing, said Alexis Maurel, Ph.D., French Fulbright Scholar in the UTEP Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Additive manufacturing appears as a unique approach to manufacture shape-conformable batteries to support human operations in space and on the surface of the moon or Mars, where cargo resupply is not as readily available.

In addition to MacDonald and Maurel, the UTEP team also includes Ana C. Martinez, Ph.D., postdoctoral researcher in the UTEP Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, and Sreeprasad Sreenivasan, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

In the projects initial phase, NASA, UTEP and YSU will identify and work on the extraction of battery materials and precursors from lunar and Martian regolith. The UTEP/YSU team has already developed and VPP 3D printed composite resin feedstocks for each part of the sodium-ion battery (i.e., electrodes, electrolyte, current collector). The team at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Ames Research Center developed and ME 3D printed composite inks for the different battery components. UTEP and NASAs Glenn Research Center are then electrochemically testing the completed 3D-printed sodium-ion battery components.

About the University of Texas at El Paso

The University of Texas at El Paso is Americas leading Hispanic-serving university. Located at the westernmost tip of Texas, where three states and two countries converge along the Rio Grande, 84% of our 24,000 students are Hispanic, and half are the first in their families to go to college. UTEP offers 169 bachelors, masters, and doctoral degree programs at the only open-access, top-tier research university in America.

Last Updated on March 22, 2023 at 12:00 AM | Originally published March 22, 2023

By MC Staff UTEP Marketing and Communications

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UTEP Joins Project to 3D Print Batteries from Lunar and Martian Soil - The University of Texas at El Paso

Biochemistry

The Protein Society announces its 2023 award – EurekAlert

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 22, 2023

THE PROTEIN SOCIETY ANNOUNCES ITS 2023 AWARD RECIPIENTS

LOS ANGELES, CA The Protein Society, the premier international society dedicated to supporting protein research, announces the winners of the 2023 Protein Society Awards, which will be conferred at the 37th Anniversary Symposium, July 13 16, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. Plenary talks from select award recipients will take place throughout the 3.5-day event. The scientific accomplishments of the awardees, highlighted here as described by their nominators, demonstrate their lasting impact on protein science.

The Carl Brndn Award, sponsored by Rigaku Corporation, honors an outstanding protein scientist who has also made exceptional contributions in the areas of education and/or service to the field. The 2023 recipient of this award is Professor Arthur Lesk (Penn State University). Dr. Lesk influenced generations of scientists with his analyses of protein structure and evolution, as well as with his textbooks on protein science, genomics, and bioinformatics.

The Christian B. Anfinsen Award, sponsored by The Protein Society, recognizes technological achievement or significant methodological advances in the field of protein science. The 2023 recipient of this award is Professor Mei Hong (MIT). Dr. Hong created innovative tools to interrogate protein structure and dynamics using solid-state NMR spectroscopy.

The Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Award, sponsored by Genentech, is granted in recognition of exceptional contributions in protein science which profoundly influence our understanding of biology. The 2023 recipient is Professor Patricia Clark (University of Notre Dame). Dr. Clark has shed light on mechanisms of co-translational folding, codon usage, and other factors that influence protein structure in vivo.

The new Marie Maynard Daly Award honors its namesake, who was the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. degree in the United States, conducting pioneering research on chromatin, the ribosome, and cholesterol-hypertension relationships. This award recognizes groundbreaking research at the interface between protein science and human health. The 2023 inaugural recipient is Professor Ren Robinson (Vanderbilt University). Dr. Robinson has pioneered the application and development of mass spectrometry-based proteomics to study aging and neurodegeneration, with a particular focus on health disparities in minority populations.

The Emil Thomas Kaiser Award, sponsored by generous individual contributions, recognizes a recent and highly-significant application of chemistry to the study of proteins. The 2023 recipient is Professor Jason Gestwicki (University of California San Francisco). Dr. Gestwicki has developed innovative tools and approaches to target diseases of protein misfolding.

The Hans Neurath Award, sponsored by the Hans Neurath Foundation, honors individuals who have made a recent contribution of exceptional merit to basic protein research. The 2023 recipient is Professor Elena Conti (Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry). Dr. Conti is recognized for her discovery of mechanisms of RNA export, processing, and quality control in the cell.

The Stein & Moore Award, sponsored by The Protein Society and with support from Wiley, recognizes eminent leaders in protein science who have made sustained high impact research contributions to the field. The 2023 recipient is Professor Kevin Gardner (CUNY Advanced Science Research Center). Dr. Gardner has studied the structure, dynamics, and function of ligand-regulated protein/protein interaction domains from bacteria, plants, and humans to develop innovative optogenetic tools and cancer therapeutics.

The Protein Science Young Investigator Award, sponsored by Wiley, recognizes scientists within their first 8 years of an independent career at the time of nomination who have made an important contribution to the study of proteins. The 2023 recipient is Professor Polly Fordyce (Stanford University). Dr. Fordyce has developed innovative microfluidic systems to study howprotein sequence encodes fuctionat a large scale.

Delegates, exhibitors, sponsors, and the press can learn more about the 37th Anniversary Symposium on The Protein Society website: http://www.proteinsociety.org.

# # #

The Protein Society is the leading international Society devoted to furthering research and development in protein science. Founded in 1986, the purpose of the Society is to provide international forums to facilitate communication, cooperation, and collaboration regarding all aspects of the study of proteins. In support of these goals, the Society publishes Protein Science, the premier journal in the field, hosts an annual international symposium, and facilitates the education of early-career protein scientists across all lines of discipline. The membership of Protein Society represents a wide spectrum of academic, industry, governmental, and non-profit institutions from more than 40 countries around the world. Media inquiries can be directed to Raluca Cadar, Executive Director at 844.377.6834, rcadar@proteinsociety.org.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

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Cardiology

What the rise of outpatient cardiac OBLs and ASCs means for … – Cardiovascular Business

These outpatient treatment centers offer higher rates of both provider and patient satisfaction, Biga said, in addition to delivering high-quality outcomes in a lower-cost setting. Medicare began reimbursing for ASC basic percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in 2020, which accelerated the growth of these centers. Regulations in some states favor OBLs or ASCs, so there has been a concentration of these centers in some states, mainly in the band from Florida across to country to the west to Arizona.

In some cases, larger hospital systems are even partnering with private companies that manage these labs to outsource their less complex cases and make room in the hospital cath labs for more involved (and more lucrative) procedures.

Biga said the Medicare fee schedule has changed in recent years to favor these outpatient centers for lower acuity patient care because they have much lower overhead costs than large hospital systems.The shift is being made for similar financial reasons asthe shift over the past decade from private cardiology practices to cardiologists increasingly being employed by the hospitals.

"There is a financial element to that you can't ignore, and the same is true here," Biga explained.

In many cases, OBLs and ASCs have the same equipment and often they have the same cardiologists at the area hospitals performing these procedures. She said the difference is just the location, which changes how much a procedure is reimbursed and how that translates into revenue when there are not a large number of additional costs that hospitals have to cover.

"Outcomes are probably just as good, if not better, and patient satisfaction tends to be much better because it is an easier in or out. If you go to a hospital and your are registering, it is a two-hour process. If you are in a smaller setting, it is a much better patient experience," Biga said.

Her biggest concern with these centers is that they meet the same patient safety and quality metrics as hospital facilities. Biga said this can be done if OBL and ASCs become a part of the ACC National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) like larger cath labs at hospitals. She said this would provide a benchmarking capability to measure the quality of the outpatient centers as compared to traditional care for similar types of patients and procedures. The ACC is presently working on a lighter version of the registry to support OBLs and ASCs.

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What the rise of outpatient cardiac OBLs and ASCs means for ... - Cardiovascular Business

Cardiology

Top in cardiology: Updates in hypertension research; predictors of … – Healio

March 20, 2023

1 min read

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Experts at the Cardiovascular Translational Research Center at the University of South Carolina are leading research in hypertension to further advancements in CVD prevention.

Their efforts include investigations into the role of cell damage in hypertension and the relationship between changes in the vasculature and hypertension.

Healio spoke with R. Clinton Webb, PhD, director of the Cardiovascular Translational Research Center, about key topics in hypertension research. It was the top story in cardiology last week.

Another top story was about a study that found the level of inflammation better predicted future cardiovascular events or death than the level of LDL in patients at high cardiovascular risk who are already taking statin therapy. Researchers said the findings indicate that this population may need anti-inflammatory therapy just as much as cholesterol-lowering therapy to prevent cardiovascular events and death.

Read these and more top stories in cardiology below:

Hypertension research could yield advancements in CVD prevention

Hypertension is one of the most common risk factors for CVD, and despite numerous therapies existing, rates of uncontrolled hypertension have risen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Read more.

Inflammatory risk better predicts events vs. cholesterol risk in statin-treated patients

In high-risk patients on statin therapy, residual inflammatory risk as assessed by high-sensitivity C-reactive protein better predicted cardiovascular events and death than residual cholesterol risk as assessed by LDL, data show. Read more.

Connections between neighbors of varying incomes tied to lower premature CV death

Increased neighborhood connectedness of people of lower and higher socioeconomic status via Facebook friendships was associated with lower county-level prevalence of cardiovascular death, a speaker reported. Read more.

Remote monitoring of cardiac devices during pandemic cut greenhouse gas emissions

Remote monitoring of more than 32,000 patients with cardiac implantable devices during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 12,596 metric tons compared with conventional monitoring, researchers reported. Read more.

Black women with genetic variant for amyloidosis face substantial CVD, mortality risk

Black female carriers of the V122I genetic variant for cardiac amyloidosis have substantially higher CVD and all-cause mortality risk, which grows with age, compared with noncarriers, researchers reported. Read more.

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Cardiology

ACC plans to focus more on cardiology’s business management … – Cardiovascular Business

Biga said ACC wants to "walk the walk" when is comes to dealing with the non-clinical business impacts of managing a cardiovascular department. The organization also hopes to take on more of the big challenges related to paying for cardiac care, moving beyond its traditional focus on clinical science, outcomes and quality.

"As our physicians leaders and CV team leaders continue to evolve, it is imperative that it is not just a clinical track, but that they also understand that business side of cardiology. Because it does impact out patients and does impact us with our compensation models, so it is really important," Biga explained.

Biga said staffing issues are the primary concern across healthcare right now amid the period of the "great resignation."

"This is really, really important because it does impact the finances. I explain to people that when we can't find our nurses, our advanced practice providers (APPs), techs, our OR teams, across the country we are closing ORs and cath labs because we just cannot get staff. It impacts all of us from a patient access prospective, but also from a compensation and a reimbursement prospective," she explained.

While to drive to leave healthcare jobs was partly fueled by burnout during the pandemic and an amplification of pre-COVID issues, the decreasing amounts seen in reimbursements are also impacting the ability for healthcare systems to retain staff. Clinical workflows and efforts to get paid for the care provided to patients have increasingly become full ofbureaucracy and obstacles, which have increased clinician burnout.

Increasing requirements to obtain prior authorizations are another contributor to both lower amounts of revenue and the increased staff burden to obtain them if physicians and hospitals want to be paid. She said this requires healthcare organizations to hire more staff to track down prior authorizations, which drives up overhead healthcare costs.

This gets more complicated and involves more staff time that is unpaid when payers require a peer-to-peer reviews of why tests or procedures are needed and the physicians have to justify their decisions to insurance companies.

"Sometimes this is also harmful to our patients because because their access to care gets decreased," Biga said. "And this is why the whole healthcare system of the United States is under scrutiny."

The American healthcare system is the most expensive, but fails to meet better outcomes of other nations, she said. She said the cost versus benefit evaluation of American healthcare shows a growing imbalance. While the U.S. spends more money per-capita on healthcare than any other country in the world, outcomes and life expectancy actually started decreasing among Americans prior to the pandemic.This lower-than-expected performance compared to costs was echoed by cardiologist and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, who presented these same statistics facing the U.S. healthcare system at theTranscatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) and the American Heart Association (AHA) meetings in 2022.

"Why is it that our quality or care and patient outcomes are not matching the dollar amounts that we are spending?" Biga asked. "This is a huge issue, because the fee-for-service basis that we are in uses a risk based model where we take baby steps, but we really need to be taking bigger steps to achieve something."

Biga said part of the problem is the American consumer expectation of immediate access to healthcare for everything. But she said immediate care does not mean quality care, and that is a concept the public needs to understand and accept. She said patients in some countries with socialized medicine might have to wait two months for an imaging test, but overall, the healthcare outcomes in those countries are better than in the United States.

Biga said there is a movement in Washington to pushed the healthcare system to risk-based payment models. She said the health system is already moving in that direction.

As the available funds for Medicare continue to decrease as more patients are added to the system, many patients are moving to Medicare Advantageplans.

"Call them anything you want, but Medicare Advantage are basically a risk-based model. And when you enter into a Medicare Advantage plan on our side in the office, it adds a lot more requirements," Biga said.

These additional requirements include the need for appropriate use documentation, pre-authorization, your network gets more narrow so patients may not be able to go where they want to go. She said in many places this change is subtle, but in other places it is more pronounced.

"In Chicago, our percentage Medicare Advantageto traditional Medicare patients continues to escalate and I think we are going to be seeing more of that," Biga said.

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ACC plans to focus more on cardiology's business management ... - Cardiovascular Business

Cardiology

Panacea Healthcare Solutions Hosting Webinar on Interventional … – Benzinga

Panacea Healthcare Solutions, a leading provider of strategic pricing, price transparency, chargemaster, compliance, and revenue integrity software, education, and consulting services to healthcare providers across the full continuum of care, is hosting a newly developed webinar intended to help healthcare professionals keep up with recent advances in novel treatment options in the subspecialty of interventional cardiology.

ST. PAUL, Minn., March 22, 2023 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Panacea Healthcare Solutions, a leading provider of strategic pricing, price transparency, chargemaster, compliance, and revenue integrity software, education, and consulting services to healthcare providers across the full continuum of care, is hosting a newly developed webinar intended to help healthcare professionals keep up with recent advances in novel treatment options in the subspecialty of interventional cardiology.

"Transcatheter Valvular Procedure Code Updates: New Technologies and the Codes You Should Capture" is scheduled to take place at 1 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 30, with a Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credit available through the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC), the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management (PAHCOM), and the Project Management Institute (PMI). Register here.

The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) transcatheter valvular procedure code set has significantly expanded since the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) codes were created in 2013, with new procedures for all four cardiac valves added in several areas of the code book. Additionally, many patients are enrolled in clinical trials as this area of medicine rapidly expands, creating the need for a nuanced understanding of coding, billing, and claim requirements beyond just the assignment of the correct CPT code.

"We're pleased to offer this educational session, which will help both physicians and those involved in the mid-revenue cycle process have a clearer understanding of the procedures that can be performed across all cardiac valves," said Becky Jacobsen, Director of Coding and Documentation Services at Panacea. "The material being covered will undoubtedly prove invaluable to the success and growth of any transcatheter structural heart program."

Panacea Senior Healthcare Consultant Jayna Tuominen will be the lead presenter for the 60-minute webinar, during which she will review the current state of the code set for transcatheter valvular heart interventions across all four cardiac valves and discuss how to successfully navigate clinical trial coding, billing, and claim submission for these procedures. This presentation will equip physicians, charge entry personnel, coding professionals, practice administrators, and revenue cycle staff with the information needed to perform accurate and compliant coding and claim submission.

A live Q&A will be held after the primary presentation, providing participants an opportunity to ask questions and have them answered in real time.

"I'm very excited to offer this session, as it's a topic that's both timely and relevant," Tuominen said. "I have no doubts that participants will walk away from it far better prepared to successfully manage the coding and billing of these dynamic and evolving procedures."

By the conclusion of the webinar, participants should find themselves able to:

To learn more about Panacea's tech-enabled services, or other educational sessions, visit panaceainc.com or call 888-926-5933. Register for the webinar here.

About Panacea Healthcare Solutions

Panacea (http://www.panaceainc.com) provides software and tech-enabled services that help healthcare organizations improve their revenue cycle, coding, and compliance with front-line expertise in mid-revenue cycle management. In an era where 95% of provider revenue is driven by accurate coding and defensible yet optimal pricing, clients trust Panacea to deliver unparalleled value in strategic pricing, price transparency, chargemaster, compliance, and revenue cycle solutions.

Media Contact

Catherine Short, Panacea Healthcare Solutions, LLC, 888-926-5933, contact@panaceainc.com

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SOURCE Panacea Healthcare Solutions, LLC

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