Advertisement
A greater number of cardiovascular disease treatment options is availabletoday than ever before, but medical research on the best treatments forspecific patients is often confusing and conflicting, making it difficult forhealth care professionals to determine the best care choices for eachpatient's individual condition and symptoms. Seconds-Count.org aims to providecurrent information and analysis of the latest treatments -- from lifestylechanges and medications to devices and surgery -- and discussion of medicalstudies and industry news to create a one-stop resource for physicians andother health care professionals.
Advertisement
"The number of clinical studies released each month, and the number of newtreatments and technologies available, can be overwhelming for primary carephysicians and other health professionals who must keep up-to-date on alltypes of diseases as the first point of contact for patients," said Ziyad M.Hijazi, M.D., MPH, FSCAI, president of SCAI and Professor of Pediatrics andInternal Medicine, Rush Center for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease,Chicago. "Our goal is to provide an easy-to-use resource to help physiciansquickly find accurate, credible cardiovascular disease information to makerecommendations for their patients."
In addition to the physician-focused section, the site includes a patientsection with disease and treatment information, news and patient stories --developed so physicians can be confident in sharing this Web site with theirpatients as a clear and credible resource. For patients and their families,the site will provide disease and treatment information for both new andcurrent patients, provide an overview of the care team depending on the courseof treatment, and suggest questions to ask their physician. To help patientsbetter understand the treatments their physician recommends, the site willinclude a library of patient stories and videos, treatment animations andimages, photos, and a range of other resources.
"There's more health information available today than ever before, andpatients are more knowledgeable about their condition. At the same time, theinformation available can be confusing and even frightening to patients, andas physicians, we must help our patients interpret the information they readin the newspaper or online," said J. Jeffrey Marshall, M.D., FSCAI,editor-in-chief of Seconds-Count.org, president of Northeast Georgia HeartCenter and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at Northeast GeorgiaMedical Center. "Seconds-Count.org provides evidence-based information forhealth professionals, and it's also a resource we can share with our patientsand their families who are looking for a credible source for the latestcardiovascular disease information."
Seconds-Count.org will be frequently updated with the latest news andannouncements from major interventional cardiology conferences, physicians'blog postings, clinical study summaries and the latest treatment options.
A
