Cardiovascular Services
Cardiovascular Surgery

Outcomes & Innovation Report

Cardiovascular patients throughout Maine and the New Hampshire Mt. Washington Valley have easy access to state-of-the-art, coordinated heart care through MaineHealth. This innovative collaboration is designed to reduce the need for travel whenever possible by connecting patients with cardiovascular experts, close to home. Below we share highlights from our 2020 Outcomes & Innovation Report.

Marco Diaz MD Inline
Marco Diaz, MD
Chair of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine

I am honored to be part of Cardiovascular Services at MaineHealth — an integrated network of hospitals, health care providers and specialists — built with patients’ needs at the very center. Our service line combines medical and surgical services (both inpatient and ambulatory care), along with research and education, under unified clinical and administrative leadership. Our intent is to highlight our strong performance as evidenced by the data presented clearly and transparently on the following pages. Our 2020 report highlights many of our treatment offerings and leading technologies in use across MaineHealth.

For example, MaineHealth aims to help people with heart failure have the best possible clinical outcomes and quality of life. To achieve this, our organizations and partners implemented a variety of evidence-based treatments across the MaineHealth system to provide care as close to home as possible. This approach helps patients better manage heart failure symptoms. As a result, they need to be hospitalized less often. Care settings include patients’ private homes, nursing care facilities, medical care offices, emergency departments and hospitals. Treatment options include evidence-based clinical pathways, supporting clinical decision tools, providing patients with clear and consistent plans of care and specialized care for patients with advanced disease.

To enable a more seamless transition across the care continuum, Cardiovascular Services activated our shared electronic health record, Epic’s Cupid application, in February 2020. The success of this complex implementation is the result of outstanding teamwork, project management and leadership across our hospitals and physician practices.

I invite you to collaborate and partner with us as we continue to strive to improve cardiovascular care, quality and patient access, while delivering the best health outcomes.

MaineHealth's flagship hospital, Maine Medical Center (MMC) formed a mitral valve clinic in 2019 to provide advanced heart valve services spanning the continuum of care. We offer individualized, cutting-edge care to patients with primary and secondary mitral valve disease. According to cardiac surgeon Michael Robich, MD, the MMC clinic builds on the extensive and established experience of Maine Medical Partners — MaineHealth Cardiology and Maine Medical Partners — Cardiovascular Surgery as regional leaders in complex surgical and minimally-invasive mitral valve procedures. A multidisciplinary team is working to establish the region’s first Mitral Center of Excellence to provide even more advanced surgical, minimally-invasive and endovascular treatments for all types of mitral valve disease.

John “Kenny” Kramer never had any major health issues until one day, after carrying ten 40-pound bags of wood pellets into his shed, he collapsed at the kitchen sink. Kenny had an enlarged blockage in his abdomen that was preventing crucial blood flow, and it needed attention right away. “I had no symptoms whatsoever,” Kenny says. “I remember going to the ED in Sanford, and that’s about it until I spoke with Dr. Bloch at MMC. The coordination between the care teams was wonderful.” Read his full story.

Small Connections Campaign   John Kramer photos

The MaineHealth cardiovascular surgery team is dedicated to ensuring that patients with heart problems receive the highest quality care from experienced heart surgeons. We work collaboratively to choose the least-invasive solutions possible and use the advanced surgical technologies to achieve the best outcomes.


 

Cardiac Surgery By Type201720182019
Isolated Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG)
 
481483523
CAB + Aortic Valve Replacement (AVR)697782
CAB + Mitral Valve Replacement (MVR)1283
CAB + Mitral Valve Repair221723
Isolated Aortic Valve Replacement858186
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR)159193239
Isolated Mitral Valve Replacement191019
Aortic Valve Replacement + Mitral Valve Replacement787
Mitral Valve Repair375763
Other252201213
Total Coronary Artery Bypass Graft584585631
Total Valve410451522

People with congenital heart disease need care throughout their lives. From infancy through adulthood, people with congenital heart issues are best served by specially trained clinicians who understand their complex and unique needs. Our program offers a full range of inpatient and outpatient clinical services — from diagnosis to surgical repair. 

We care for pediatric and adult patients with all forms of congenital heart conditions and pulmonary hypertension issues. In 2019, MaineHealth launched a new program for adult patients with any form of congenital heart condition. This includes those with newly diagnosed congenital heart defects, as well as those with complex congenital heart disease who may have received care since childhood and now may require transition to adult medical services such as family planning, genetic counseling and ongoing cardiology care.