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.

At Health Datapalooza, the Acting Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Andy Slavitt announced a new policy that will allow innovators and entrepreneurs to access CMS data, such as Medicare claims. Under the policy, those interested may conduct approved research that will ultimately improve care and provide better tools that should benefit healthcare consumers through a greater understanding of what the data says works best in healthcare. The data will not allow the patient's identity to be determined, but will provide the identity of the providers of care. CMS will begin accepting innovator research requests in September 2015.

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced an opportunity for healthcare providers to decrease cardiovascular disease risk for Medicare beneficiaries through a new payment model. Using the model, providers can assess an individual patient’s risks for heart attack or stroke and work with them to reduce those risks. Secretary Burwell made the announcement at the White House Conference on Aging regional forum in Boston.

Researchers from the University of Chicago and Stanford University combed through scientific literature on the pharmacogenomics of 71 leading cardiovascular drugs to help physicians better understand how genetic variations can affect patient response. The researchers compiled summaries of the information, published in the June issue of the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, to help physicians make better-informed clinical decisions about these drugs.