By A.J. Kaufman, Managing Editor
Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute evolving into a nationally competitive cardiovascular program is good news for patients and the future of rural healthcare. Dr. Mark Chang, interventional cardiologist and senior vice president of Ballad CVA Heart Institute; and Love Hobson, vice president, Cardiovascular Services, believe several efforts are helping expand cardiovascular care services. We sat down with this duo to learn more.
Business Journal: How have strategic investments, new technology and collaboration among physicians helped expand cardiovascular care services for patients?
Love Hobson: I believe the greatest impact we can have on cardiovascular care comes from investing strategically in both our people and our technology. We have been intentional about recruiting and retaining highly skilled cardiovascular specialists while also investing in the equipment, technology and infrastructure needed to provide increasingly complex cardiovascular care within our region.
These investments allow us to expand what we offer patients — from advanced diagnostics and imaging to complex interventional, structural heart, electrophysiology and vascular procedures. As importantly, we are building the expertise and clinical teams necessary to support these technologies and deliver them safely and effectively.
Collaboration among senior leadership, cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, electrophysiologists, vascular specialists, advanced practice providers and clinical teams is equally important. When you bring the right people together with the right technology and resources, you create opportunities to improve access, advance care and ultimately change the cardiovascular outcomes we can achieve for patients across the Appalachian Highlands.
For me, the goal is not simply to add technology or services. It is to make thoughtful investments that strengthen cardiovascular care for the long term and allow us to meet patients where they are with the expertise and resources they need, closer to home.
Mark Chang: There have been tremendous strategic investments in cardiology made by Ballad Health that, in my mind, have served the patients and our community tremendously. Not only in high-cost advanced technology and equipment but also, by investing in our practice and supporting a truly team-based care approach to our patients. Our structure is a leading-edge, highly collaborative organization of physicians and system leaders who constantly prioritize quality outcomes at the lowest possible cost.
We try to focus on the mission, which is quality first, through a collaborative integrated approach between the healthcare system and the physician partners. This allows for more thoughtful and efficient decisions about how to grow and evolve with changing times and new technologies. In my mind, there is truly a direct through-line between that kind of approach and that kind of care to better quality outcomes. That sounds like an easy thing to invest in, but the truth is, it’s very difficult and requires a high-risk investment and trust from the system, as well as our physicians. Most of the country chooses not to operate that way. I think our results speak for themselves regarding the benefits to the community.
BJ: How has Ballad Health transformed a historically fragmented cardiology landscape into an integrated cardiovascular institute serving our region?
LH: Over time, Ballad Health has worked closely with physicians, administration and clinical leaders to create a unified vision for cardiovascular care centered on patient experience and clinical excellence. Today, the cardiovascular service line brings together specialists from across the region under a shared strategic framework. We have aligned care pathways, quality initiatives, operational processes and access strategies to create a more coordinated network of cardiovascular services.
From my perspective, one of the greatest benefits of the service line integration is allowing us to look at cardiovascular care as a continuum rather than as individual services. Patients can move more seamlessly from prevention and diagnosis to advanced interventions and long-term management, while our physicians and teams can collaborate more effectively. That collaboration also gives us a stronger foundation to grow services, bring new technologies to the region and continually improve the care we provide to the communities we serve.
MC: It starts with leadership and Ballad Health’s full commitment to and focus on high-quality and high-value care. Before the formation of Ballad Health, several groups of physicians joined together to form CVA. As physicians, we had a shared vision of how we might practice better state-of-the-art cardiology as an integrated group within the healthcare system. Ballad Health leadership chose to invest in us in our entirety to form Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute. I had the honor of being the lead physician for the practice at that time and, since then, have worked closely with Ballad Health leadership along with all my partners at CVA. I believe everyone involved, both on the practice and administrative sides of this, stayed fully committed to that whole idea of providing the best organized, best quality care for the region, not just for one local group or individual over another. Again, we can all probably say the outcomes are the best testament to the wisdom and value of such an investment for our region.
BJ: New technologies like HeartFlow®, FARAPULSE™ and EVOQUE™ are reportedly giving patients more treatment options without having to leave the region. Tell our readers more about why that’s so important for Appalachia.
LH: Access to advanced cardiovascular care is one of the most important healthcare challenges facing rural communities, particularly across the Appalachian Highlands. Technologies such as HeartFlow®, FARAPULSE™ and EVOQUE™ are helping us bring sophisticated diagnostic and treatment options to patients who historically had to travel outside the region for this level of care.
For patients and their families, having these capabilities close to home can make a meaningful difference. It reduces the need to travel long distances, minimizes the financial and logistical burden associated with receiving care away from home and allows patients to remain closer to family and support systems that are important during treatment and recovery.
Just as importantly, bringing these technologies to our region helps us build a comprehensive cardiovascular program that can care for patients throughout the continuum — from advanced diagnostics to complex interventions and ongoing follow-up.
Our goal is to make high-quality, innovative cardiovascular care accessible to the communities we serve. Patients should not have to leave the Appalachian Highlands simply because they need an advanced cardiovascular procedure or technology. We are committed to supporting research and continuing to invest in the expertise, technology and infrastructure needed to bring that level of care closer to home—and ultimately, to meet patients where they are and provide the care they need within their own communities.
BJ: Explain more about how the system’s partnership with ETSU helps train the next generation of cardiologists while also supporting innovation across the program?
MC: Our partnership with ETSU Cardiology is exciting and a wonderful opportunity to further benefit the community by taking our program to the next level. ETSU’s cardiology faculty and trainees are now part of Ballad Health CVA Heart Institute. As a result, we provide high-value educational training opportunities for would-be cardiologists from all over the country. We can select from highly qualified candidates, then directly help shape their practice of cardiology. We believe this can help us continue to grow and learn with the overarching goal of providing more uniform, evidence- and team-based care that we know produces better outcomes for our patients in this region. Being an integral part of bringing Ballad Health and ETSU closer together is rewarding. Collaboration between the two organizations is a wonderful example of the commitment by both to the health of the community.
Finally, when asked about what the Heart Institute growing into a nationally competitive cardiovascular program means for its patients and the future of rural healthcare, Chang was straightforward.
“To be recognized as a nationally competitive CV program, we have to clearly demonstrate high-quality outcomes,” he explained. “Ballad Health CVA has an incredible track record of performance with great care delivered consistently at low cost. Our outcomes have been recognized through awards from national organizations…While such recognitions and awards are wonderful for all of us involved, what they truly represent is clear and objective evidence that patients in this entire region, which is largely rural, have access to and can benefit directly from top-notch cardiovascular care.”
