C.R. Bard Inc. announced that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has improved the pass-through payment for the Lutonix drug-coated balloon (DCB) under the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system. The purpose of the reimbursement is to cover additional cost to U.S. hospitals for treating Medicare beneficiaries with the Lutonix DCB in the outpatient setting.

Outcomes from the initial commercial experience of transcatheter mitral valve repair (TMVR) with Abbott's MitraClip were deemed favorable in a late-breaking clinical trial session at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 64 th annual scientific session and expo in March.

C. Dorn Smith, M.D., vascular surgeon in Kingstree, South Carolina, was successful in using a new device to remove blood clots from a patient with a cold leg using the Aspire mechanical thrombectomy device.

The nation's top consumer, patient and labor advocates recently praised the proposed Stage 3 Meaningful Use rules, describing how they would help ensure health information technology (IT) meets the needs of patients and families.

University Hospitals Case Medical Center physicians in the Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute were the first in Ohio to implant a new device to treat right ventricular heart disease.

Medtronic plc announced initial clinical outcomes for its next-generation CoreValve Evolut R System at the 64th annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology, March 14-16 in San Diego. At 30-days, the recapturable, self-expanding valve showed no incidents of all-cause mortality or stroke in a high and extreme risk patient population. The Evolut R Study enrolled 60 patients from six centers in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.