On June 30, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has been designated a qualified provider-led entity (qPLE). This allows Johns Hopkins to develop criteria that meet the requirements of the federal Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 when ordering diagnostic imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and nuclear imaging in the emergency department and ambulatory settings.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) announced the 2020 Experiential Learning Program site visit proposal solicitation period. The 2020 Fall ELP submission period is open from Monday July 8, 2019 – Thursday, August 8, 2019, at 12 p.m. EST. The ELP is intended to provide a formal training mechanism for regulatory review staff to visit research, clinical, manufacturing and healthcare facilities to observe how medical devices are designed, developed and utilized.

Elevated blood pressure and cholesterol levels in young adulthood may lead to an increased risk of heart disease later in life, regardless of later-in-life exposure to these risk factors, according to research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Acutus Medical announced the publication of the UNCOVER AF study in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology. The study demonstrated 73 percent single-procedure freedom from atrial fibrillation (AF) at 12 months with the use of Acutus' AcQMap advanced cardiac imaging and mapping system. Acutus develops electrophysiology (EP) technology solutions built into an open platform EP suite of products that enable personalized and adaptive approaches to therapy.

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) will present Stephan Achenbach, M.D., FSCCT with the inaugural 2019 Stephan Achenbach Pioneer Award in Cardiovascular CT at the SCCT 14th Annual Scientific Meeting (SCCT2019), July 11 –14 in Baltimore. The award recognizes individuals who have made landmark contributions by demonstrating a commitment to clinical excellence, research and education to the field of cardiovascular CT.