CRS CEO John McBride Co-Founded the Loma Linda CEPT Program
In January 2011, Loma Linda University began its inaugural year of its newly founded Cardiac Electrophysiology Technology Program (CEPT) for allied health professionals. The program was created when the authors found a lack in the number of EP-trained professionals on the west coast, and saw the need to create this formal clinical EP program.
Many hospitals in the region lack properly trained EP professionals who can carry on or start an EP program.
Loma Linda University (LLU) introduced the Cardiac Electrophysiology Technologist (CEPT) program, aiming to meet a growing demand for clinical EP staff and provide patients with quality care in the cardiac EP lab. Not only has the CEPT program met this goal, it has surpassed it. The program’s most recent accomplishment of achieving the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) accreditation has raised CEPT program expectations and prospects, as well as improved opportunities for those who never considered a career in cardiac EP.
Evaluating the Opportunity for Atrial Fibrillation Center
The worldwide growth of Atrial Fibrillations, besides many other arrhythmias, is of course tied to the aging population. The prevalence of atrial fibrillation is expected to increase by 430% to nearly 16 million people by 2050, with a price tag of $26 billion per year. With no cure-all treatment option, a-fib patients often seek care from multiple specialists and require long-term management. Coupled with significant improvements in catheter ablation technology in recent years, atrial fibrillation has become a prime growth prospect for many CV programs.
Today, the economics of supply and demand for the development of an A-Fib Center is most evident because of the exponential growth of electrophysiology (EP) procedures in the United States (http://www.mrg.net/News-and-Events/Press-Releases/Electrophysiology-Mapping-Ablation-Devices-072313.aspx). The demand side of this economic equations is not just associated with the growth of a target market but also the competent resources available.
Presently, all of the manufactures that provide cardiac ablation products, as well as the medical facilities (less than 1000) that provide those services, are ablating less than 8% of the population that have access to health care and could benefit from a cardiac ablation procedure. (http://www.scpcp.org/index.php/services/accreditation/afib).
Although it has great financial promise, as well as providing health benefits, developing an a-fib disease center can be logistically and politically challenging. Among other hurdles, CV leaders ranked generating referrals as the primary challenge, followed by coordinating post-discharge patient follow-up. However, there are two major factors that are the route of the limited number of procedures being performed in the US. First, all the VPs and Regional Directors of the manufacturers providing cardiac ablation products inform me that collectively the industry requires over 200 allied health professionals annually that are competent in assisting Electrophysiologists and this high number does not take into consideration the medical facilities requiring capable staff.
There are very few schools in the US that provide EP training and Loma Linda University’s Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) Electrophysiology (CEPT) program is one of very few programs of its kind in the US.
The second factor is on the hospital side. How, who, when and where to build an Electrophysiology Service Line is confounding senior administrations:
- “How do we build an EP Service Line while still performing all the other diagnostic and/or interventional procedures?”
- “Who will be our physician and clinical staff champions to lead this project?”
- “When is the timing right to move forward?”
- “Where are we going to perform these ablation procedures?”
And other questions like, Inpatient vs. Outpatient; the 2 Mid-Night ruling, the RAC audits and of course where do we acquire competent resources? All of these issues have answers if you have the practical and business skills to avoid the pitfalls.
The co-founder of LLU’s CEPT Program (Peter McBride) is also the CEO of Cardiovascular Resources Solutions Inc. CRS has more than 4 decades of experience in building cardiovascular service lines but also has nearly 10 years in developing A-Fib Centers, as well as, hospital based and/or “in-house” EP Educational programs.
CRS’s philosophy is to provide an individualized assistance for each engagement or customer needs, so if you are looking to augment your existing CV Service Line to include cardiac ablations or need re-evaluation of your EP referrals, please contact Peter McBride directly, or any member of our staff to answer any questions.
Related Articles:
So Far, So Fast and Ever Evolving: Loma Linda University Cardiac Electrophysiology Technology Program
Author(s):
Joe Giron, RN, RT, RCIS, RCES, CEPS, Co-Founder and Clinical Coordinator, Instructor of CEPT Program; Janelle Guerrero, MS, RCEP, RCES, Assistant Professor of CEPT Program; Dr. David López, Ed.D. RCP, RRT, Associate Professor, Chair, Department of Cardiopulmonary Science; Peter McBride, BS, Co-Founder and Marketing Strategist of CEPT Program, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California
The EP industry is poised for explosive growth in the next few years. As the population ages, EP will gain more popularity in the cardiovascular industry. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, total spending due to cardiovascular diseases is expected to reach a staggering $1.2 trillion by 2030.
Co-founders of the CEPT program Joe Giron and Peter McBride continue to change the face of education in EP. [ Read full article. PDF ]
The New Cardiac Electrophysiology Technology Program (CEPT) for Allied Health Professionals [Posted on eplabdigest.com]