Lahey's multidisciplinary team approach—the concept upon which the Clinic was founded in 1923—fosters an environment of open communication and collaboration that results in:
- more timely and accurate diagnoses, including a formidable reputation for diagnosing and treating complex cases and delivering precise second opinions;
- appropriate and highly personalized treatment plans for each patient;
- access to innovative surgical and non-surgical procedures involving collaboration of physicians from different specialties;
- and a more seamless patient care experience overall.
A Tradition of Innovation
Providing the highest quality care for patients through innovative change is a driving force in Lahey's Heart and Vascular Center. Recent developments include:
- The Katharine E. Merck Cardiac Interventional Center, with state-of-the-art catheterization laboratories and electrophysiology laboratories that allow us to provide patients with progressive minimally invasive techniques
- A comprehensive cardiac imaging center including state-of-the art cardiac MRI, cardiac PET/CT, and cardiac CTA. Lahey recently became one of the first hospitals in the U.S. to install a double 64-slice, multidetector scanner, currently the fastest and most progressive CTA equipment available.
- More than 30 new inpatient beds with telemetry monitoring capabilities
- A hybrid operating room that combines a standard operating room and a catheterization lab for performing traditional and less invasive procedures simultaneously in the same room
- Lahey's Endovascular Center, which draws on the expertise of specialists from various disciplines to address the full spectrum of peripheral vascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including occlusive diseases, aneurysm and vascular malformations
- Lahey's Electrophysiology (EP) Lab was one of the first places to aquire the Hansen Medical Sensei Robotic Catheter System. This innovative device allows Lahey physicians to continue enhancing patient care in the area of cardiac ablation procedures by allowing for unsurpassed accuracy and control.
Recognized for Results in 2008
- One of only nine hospitals nationally, and two in Massachusetts, to perform better than the national average for heart attack survival according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rankings
- Named one of the top cardiovascular hospitals in the country for the seventh time by Thomson Reuters (formerly Solucient). Lahey was only one of two Massachusetts hospitals, and the only Boston-area hospital, to receive this honor
- The only Massachusetts hospital to receive best quartile rankings in survival outcomes for both coronary bypass surgery and coronary angioplasty by the Leapfrog Group
- Named a Blue Distinction Center by Blue Cross Blue Shield
- Selected as a United Health Premium Cardiac Specialty Center
- Recognized by the American Heart Association's GET WITH THE GUIDELINES program (Ongoing)
Advancing Medicine Through Research
Specialists at Lahey's Heart and Vascular Center continuously contribute to important outcomes research. The number of cardiology-related studies approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) performed at Lahey has tripled over the last five years and over 50 peer-reviewed articles have appeared in the scientific literature since 2004.
Our main focus is on clinical trials that directly impact patient care and expose patients to the latest advances in treatment. Examples of recent and current trials include:
- Studies investigating coronary artery plaque characterization using near-infrared spectroscopy and optical coherence tomography (OCT) in patients undergoing elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
- The Cardiovascular Outcomes in Renal Atherosclerotic Lesions (CORAL) trial, a multi-center study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute exploring how the correction of renal artery stenosis affects kidney function following renal artery stenting
- The Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI-2D) study, the largest NIH-sponsored clinical trial to date evaluating treatments for coronary artery disease and diabetes in patients who have these two conditions
- The Aggressive Reduction of Inflammation Stops Events (ARISE) study to test a new anti-inflammatory medication that may slow the progression of atherosclerosis
Click here to search through all ongoing clinical trials at Lahey.
