In partnership with Intel-GE Care Innovations, Cigna-HealthSpring is expanding its population health program that utilizes interactive tablets – the Intel-GE Care Innovations Guide – and virtual connection to Cigna-HealthSpring nurse practitioners to partner and engage with patients diagnosed with congestive heart failure (CHF) to successfully manage their condition at home. Based on a successful pilot in Middle Tennessee that engaged 50 patients, the innovative remote patient management program is now being implemented with 250 patients statewide with potential for further expansion.

October 10, 2014—Mitralign Inc. reported on the successful use of its technology to perform a percutaneous repair on a patient with tricuspid regurgitation (TR). Prof. Dr. med. J. Schofer of the Medicare Center and Department for Percutaneous Interventions of Structural Heart Disease, Albertinen Heart Center, Hamburg, Germany; and Rebecca Hahn, M.D., director of interventional echocardiography, Columbia University Medical Center / New York Medical Center / New York Presbyterian Hospital, presented at the PCR London Valves Conference and detailed the procedure—a percutaneous bicuspidization of the tricuspid valve, successfully converting a regurgitating tri-leaflet valve into a functioning bi-leaflet valve. The German regulatory body BfArM approved the patient for a compassionate use exemption, as no other options were available. The successful procedure was performed at the Albertinen Heart Center in Hamburg. The Mitralign product is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for an indication in functional mitral regurgitation. The device is not approved for sale or distribution.