SCAI’s Cath Lab Track 2019

It is with great anticipation that we announce the return of the Cath Lab Boot Camp (CLBC) to the SCAI 2019 Scientific Sessions (SCAI 2019). This two-day track will be held on Monday, May 20th and Tuesday, May 21st in Las Vegas. Since its inception in 2014, the CLBC has garnered great interest from the entire interventional cardiovascular team, including physicians, nurses, and cardiovascular technologists. This year’s iteration will be even more focused on the most widely applicable topics that all of us face working in a cath lab every day — all within an interactive, case-based agenda.

The SCAI 2019 CLBC will capitalize on its excellent precedent and provide the audience with engaging sessions on topics that affect our daily life and well-being. We have made a concerted effort this year to consider fellows and early career interventionalists in addition to the physician leaders of both today and tomorrow. Each of us utilized our unique perspectives, coming from differing backgrounds, to curate an all-encompassing curriculum from which all cath lab participants can learn and enjoy.

Following SCAI 2018, we listened to the feedback provided by our attendees. You spoke, and we heard you! We have translated your feedback into changes that include:

• More case-based talks and discussions;
• A focus on enhanced audience interaction;
• A more widely applicable agenda;
• Greater diversity in our speakers and panels.

We individually selected faculty tailored for their talks so that we truly have experts discussing topics they are passionate about.

The session A Healthy Cath Lab, which includes operator and staff safety, remains an important focus for the CLBC as we learn more and more about the harmful side effects of our occupation to our eyes, brains, and joints. The good news is we continue to evolve ways to protect ourselves from these physical challenges. Experts will guide us on the critical steps you and your staff should take to stay safe. A Healthy Cath Lab also recognizes that working in the cath lab can be challenging, not just on the body, but also on the soul. How to maintain morale and prevent burnout, navigate uncomfortable situations and difficult conversations, and manage work-life balance will all be addressed. The session will end with a scenario-based conversation on how to negotiate the everyday challenges we face.

Continuing on this theme, Dealing with Adverse Events realizes that our occupation exposes us to emotionally-charged situations for which there are no present plans and solutions. How to handle cases that go badly, deaths in the lab, and all of the human emotions that go into a busy cath lab are not intuitive processes. Dealing with Adverse Events will take you from the educational aspects of complications, pathways to avoid the preventable, documenting and debriefing, including a medico-legal perspective, and end with a hotly debated topic of public reporting.

With the rapid evolution of new devices and adjunctive tools to use in the lab, not all cath labs can keep up with the Joneses and often feel as if they are falling behind. Not to worry: we have you covered! Straight from our SCAI Quality Improvement Committee, let our Best of SCAI’s Quality Improvement Tips illuminate techniques selected for unique challenges and tools you need to be using in your lab to maintain excellent quality and safety. If you are not clear on the basics of cathing through the cells of a CoreValve, we got that! Can’t decide what dual anti-platelet strategy to employ for your patient on a novel oral anticoagulant? Let us help!

As cath labs continue to take on more complex patients and more structural interventions, The Heart Team Approach becomes more and more relevant. PCI vs CABG, TAVR vs SAVR, when and where to use support in cardiogenic shock? All of us face these questions regularly. Which patients merit a team-based approach? In the current era, surgeons, cardiologists, imaging experts, and even hospital administrators must collaborate to do the best thing for patients where there often is not one easy answer.

Similarly, Risky Situations: Tailored Decision Making evaluates our approach to the balancing act of medicine — contrast vs CKD, ischemia vs bleeding, patient decision aids when discussing to TAVR or not to TAVR. The agenda this year features world-class physicians who will use illustrative cases to highlight how, why, and when to use a team-based or tailored approach to treatment strategies. While the concept of integration of multiple specialists seems sensible, it is not as easy as it sounds. Buckle up, because this debate will be a hotly contested one for sure.

As much as we hate to admit it, there is a financial aspect of interventional cardiology to consider, and many of us have buried our heads in the proverbial sand. However, if you are not cognizant of how the hospital is paid, then you will find it difficult to understand how to advocate for you and your family. Economics of the Cath Lab and How it Affects You! will focus on these concepts and enable all members of a cath lab team to become better educated on what they bring to the profit margin of the cath lab and how it applies to their salary at the end of the day.

Finally, the landscape of interventional cardiology continuously changes; to stay current, it is important to change as well. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of guidance about starting something new in your cath lab. Social media can be helpful, collegial relationships can aid as well, and industry is often a good resource. At the SCAI 2019 CLBC, we have culled a group of speakers for Starting Something New in Your Cath Lab that will go through the nuts and bolts of starting a new program, as well as tools and tips for your lab to succeed in CTO revascularization, robotic PCI, same-day discharge, left atrial appendage closure, or whatever it is that you desire.

We look forward to bringing you what you need and seeing you at SCAI’s Cath Lab Boot Camp May 20-21, 2019 in Las Vegas! Learn more at:

https://www.scai.org/SCAI2019.