Role of Diuretics in Heart Failure Management
October 20th 2025Panelists discuss how diuretics serve as necessary “bailout therapy” for volume management in heart failure but should not substitute for guideline-directed medical therapy, with emerging evidence supporting more nuanced approaches to diuresis, including urinalysis monitoring and novel formulations like intranasal furosemide, while noting that effective heart failure therapies actually reduce diuretic requirements.
β-Blockers for Treatment of Heart Failure
October 20th 2025Panelists discuss how β-blockers remain foundational therapy for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (using evidence-based agents like carvedilol, metoprolol succinate, or bisoprolol) with proven mortality benefits, while their role in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is more questionable and potentially overused unless atrial fibrillation is present.
Guideline-Directed Medical Therapies in Heart Failure
October 13th 2025Panelists discuss how guideline-directed medical therapy has evolved to include 4-pillar treatment for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor‐neprilysin inhibitors, β-blockers, mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists, SGLT2 inhibitors) that can reduce mortality by up to 60% and extend life by 6 years, though significant implementation gaps remain, with only about one-third of eligible patients receiving appropriate therapy, necessitating rapid initiation of all 4 drug classes within weeks rather than sequential titration.
Collaboration in Heart Failure Treatment
October 13th 2025Panelists discuss how effective heart failure management requires collaborative care across multiple specialties (primary care, cardiology, endocrinology, nephrology) with advanced practice providers serving as dedicated coordinators, utilizing multidisciplinary teams and algorithm-driven care protocols to optimize patient outcomes and prevent the hot potato approach to complex comorbidities.
Heart Failure Stages and Impact of Delayed Diagnosis
October 6th 2025Panelists discuss how heart failure classification involves HFrEF vs HFpEF distinctions and staging systems (A through D), with the greatest prevention opportunities existing in early stages A and B, where patients have risk factors or subclinical dysfunction but haven’t yet developed overt clinical symptoms.
Quality Metrics in Heart Failure
October 6th 2025Panelists discuss how quality metrics should focus on keeping patients out of hospitals through core medical therapies, measuring all-cause hospitalizations and days spent at home in the community, while tracking both process metrics (guideline-directed medical therapy prescriptions, comorbidity management) and outcome metrics (mortality, readmissions, quality of life) with financial incentives through Medicare Accountable Care Organization programs.
Heart Failure Prevalence and Screening
September 29th 2025Panelists discuss how heart failure affects 1 in 4 people over their lifetime with 7 million current cases in the US, while Optum Health has implemented an innovative screening program using symptom questionnaires, BNP testing, and echocardiograms for patients over age 60 years during wellness visits.
Economic Burden of Heart Failure Care
September 29th 2025Panelists discuss how heart failure creates a massive economic burden of approximately $30 billion annually (expected to reach $70 billion to $80 billion by 2030), driven by hospitalizations, readmissions, expensive multidrug regimens costing over $20,000 to $30,000 per patient, and high-cost interventions like ablations and advanced therapies.
Final Thoughts on Bronchiectasis Management
June 11th 2025Panelists discuss how bronchiectasis is more common than previously thought, with growing awareness, research, and specialized centers improving diagnosis and treatment options, though challenges remain in standardizing care and securing insurance coverage for therapies.
Important Clinical Considerations for Patients With Bronchiectasis
June 11th 2025Panelists discuss how future bronchiectasis research will focus on precision medicine, identify treatable traits, and expand networks of Centers of Excellence to provide advanced care and clinical trial access for patients.
The Effects of the Heterogeneity of Bronchiectasis
June 4th 2025Panelists discuss how surgical approaches for bronchiectasis have evolved from open thoracotomy to minimally invasive techniques (VATS or robotic assisted), reducing hospital stays from 5 to 7 days to 1 to 3 days and recovery time from 6 to 8 weeks to 2 to 6 weeks.
Ideal Candidates for Bronchiectasis Surgeries
May 21st 2025Panelists discuss how ideal candidates for bronchiectasis surgery have localized disease on CT scan and bronchoscopy, adequate pulmonary function (orced expiratory volume in 1 second > 40%), and whose infections are controlled prior to surgery.
Unmet Needs for Bronchiectasis Exacerbations
May 21st 2025Panelists discuss how reducing bronchiectasis exacerbations requires standardized definitions, tailored antibiotic approaches, and increased airway clearance, while addressing underlying conditions and ongoing research into optimal treatment protocols.
Airway Clearance Techniques and Antibiotics for Patients With Bronchiectasis
May 14th 2025Panelists discuss how airway clearance devices and techniques, including chest physical therapy, active cycle breathing, exercise, hypertonic saline, and oscillatory positive expiratory pressure devices, are the mainstay of bronchiectasis management.
Common Causes of Bronchiectasis
May 14th 2025Panelists discuss how evaluating potential causes of bronchiectasis is important despite many cases being idiopathic, as identifying treatable traits can lead to specific interventions, such as CFTR modulators for those with CF mutations or IgG supplementation.
Population Outcomes and Return on Value With CGMs
April 18th 2025Experts discuss the metrics used to evaluate continuous glucose monitoring (CGM)'s comprehensive return on investment, including both cost savings and quality measure performance, and identify which patient populations demonstrate the strongest combined benefits in costs, quality measures, and outcomes, along with how these groups are prioritized for CGM access.
The Metro Nashville Public Schools Initiative
April 11th 2025Experts discuss how to evaluate and communicate the return on investment for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) coverage to overcome cost-related barriers, explore strategies other payers could adopt based on the success of Metro Nashville Public Schools' initiative to provide CGM devices without prior authorization, and examine the impact of removing prior authorization requirements on appropriate patient selection and utilization, along with which aspects of this model could be adopted by other employers and the resources needed to implement similar programs.