CORAZON ANNOUNCES ONLINE TOOLKIT FOR CARDIAC & VASCULAR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT
Industry’s First Online Program Provides Expertise to Build ‘Best Practice’ Program

March 30, 2005 - Pittsburgh, PA—Corazon Consulting, a national leader in providing specialized consulting services to hospitals for development of cardiac and vascular programs, today announced the availability of Corazon Essentials Online © (C.E.O.), the first-ever toolkit of its kind for healthcare organizations wanting to develop a strategic and comprehensive cardiac and vascular program. The product, which is part of Corazon’s new e-consulting service, offers industry professionals an alternative, cost-effective approach for developing cardiac and vascular programs without using traditional on-site consulting services. The C.E.O. toolkit provides web-based access to Corazon’s highly regarded strategic program development and includes all the forms, documents, policies, and procedures to develop a ‘best practice’ program for primary or elective angioplasty, PCI with or without on-site open heart surgery, or clinical trials including C-PORT or state demonstration projects. The first module available, Coronary Angioplasty (PCI), addresses one of the industries hottest topics, broadening the access to Coronary Angioplasty at hospitals that have off-site surgical support. Other modules planned for development include cath lab, vascular, and heart failure programs.

The PCI module, developed in partnership with noted industry expert, Dr. Thomas Wharton, a leading pioneer in community-based angioplasty services who serves as Chief of Cardiology at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire and as Corazon’s PCI Medical Advisor. Uniontown Hospital in Pennsylvania also partnered in the development of the module, which was designed based upon the planning, implementation, and start-up experience gained by the organizations’ work together in the state’s demonstration project for Coronary Angioplasty with Off-Site Surgical Support. Currently, the Corazon Essentials Online © PCI module is in use at Georgia ’s Southern Regional Medical Center and Pennsylvania ’s Riddle Memorial Hospital.

The competition for the growing cardiac population remains fierce and Corazon research shows that last year alone 78% of hospitals planned to expand or renovate their cardiac infrastructure. Jackie Johnson, RN, MBA, CHE, Chief Executive Officer of Corazon Consulting summed up the industry need for this type of product. “Given the pressure to succeed, it’s critical for cardiac and vascular programs to optimize operations and provide excellent cardiovascular care and achieving this demands a strategic, coordinated approach to business, patient care, and operational decisions.” Johnson added, “For organizations that aren’t in a position to use on-site consultants to guide their initiative, the Corazon Essentials Online© toolkit provides the expertise and lessons learned that hospitals need so that they don’t have to reinvent the wheel and can start their program with the right fundamentals in place.”

Dr. Thomas Wharton, Chief of Cardiology at Exeter Hospital in New Hampshire and Corazon’s PCI Medical Advisor stated, “I am very proud of the Corazon Essentials Online© toolkit and based on my experience, believe that it is a long overdue resource that will provide much needed benefit to organizations looking to create or expand a cardiac or vascular service line.”

Rebecca Ambrosini, Vice President and Chief Nursing Officer of Uniontown Hospital in Pennsylvania added, “Corazon’s insights, ideas, and approaches were crucial to the success of our work together on the state’s Coronary Angioplasty with Off-Site Surgical Support project and we believe the C.E.O. toolkit captures the crucial planning, implementation, and start-up experiences we learned throughout the project. It will definitely serve as an excellent planning tool for other cardiac and vascular programs.”

Corazon is a recognized leader in strategic cardiovascular program development, assisting clients through the full spectrum of consulting services from feasibility study and business planning through implementation of services. The Corazon team of Heart Experts has assisted healthcare leaders and physicians in tertiary centers and community hospital settings to bring specialized advice and progressive thinking in cardiovascular services to strategic planning, market assessments and financial analyses, clinical operations and new technology, Heart Centers and Heart Hospitals, physician-hospital partnering, best practice benchmarks, and staffing models and staff education for well-developed or newly established cardiovascular programs. Corazon pioneered the application of the Universal Bed in cardiovascular care delivery and brings firsthand experience with service line management as a progressive organizational means for healthcare providers. Corazon is a 2003 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Company and one of the 2004 “ Pittsburgh 100” Companies.

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