The Christ Hospital Health Network Awarded Center of Excellence Certification for Cardiovascular Health of Oncology Patients Undergoing Therapy Treatment

The hospital is the first in southwest Ohio, and only the third in the entire state, to be awarded this prestigious designation that recognizes excellence in caring for patients who are undergoing, or previously have had, cancer therapies and treatments. According to Thomas Murtaugh, MD, MBA, FACC—Director, Cardio-Oncology Specialty Clinic, The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute—timely and successful cancer therapy is of primary importance. "Everything we do is to ensure the oncology part of the patient’s therapy goes well,” he said. “Our clinicians know that if a patient is scheduled to have chemotherapy at a certain date and time, everything we do in cardiology works to make that happen. Our cardiovascular services work around the oncology piece."

This Center of Excellence designation is awarded to programs with superior distinction in quality of care, standards of care, quality metrics, and program improvements. Steve Casselli, Executive Director, International Cardio-Oncology Society, notes that there are a significant number of metrics a program must meet in order to become certified. "It's designed to not only acknowledge exceptional programs in cardio-oncology patient care but those that also contribute to local, regional, state, and national level education with cardio-oncology educational programs,” he said. “The Christ Hospital Heart & Vascular Institute is quite active in sharing and communicating about the cardio-oncology specialization.”

Casselli explained that this relatively new field has grown as cancer therapies have become more successful. “We now have millions of long-term cancer survivors, and an inordinate number of them end up with cardiovascular problems, often affecting their mortality.”

Board-certified in cardio-oncology, cardiology, nuclear cardiology, and echocardiography, Dr. Murtaugh is familiar with the medications, radiation treatments, and immunotherapies oncology patients receive—and how they may adversely affect their hearts. "Cancer treatments often result in significant physiologic changes to cells in the heart muscle, and patients have better health outcomes when their heart is monitored. That way we can proactively and effectively deal with any damage.”

This approach also ensures the oncologists can safely treat cancer patients, eliminates interruptions to the life-saving cancer treatments, and improves the patients’ long-term survival and quality of life.

“The advantages of a cardio-oncology collaboration are significant,” said Brian Mannion, MD, Oncology Medical Director, The Christ Hospital Health Network. “Cardiotoxicity [heart damage caused by cancer treatment] can absolutely impede successful cancer therapies. In this partnership, the cardio-oncologist is fully aware of what the oncologist is trying to achieve, what therapies they are using, and what might come next—and the oncologist can confidently rely upon the patient’s cardiac monitoring.”

The program has grown and expanded over the last six years with the addition of three doctors: Santosh Menon, MD, cardiologist specializing in heart failure, Medical Director of Clinical Cardiology, Medical Director of the Adult Cardiology Fellowship Program, and Medical Director of the South Asian Comprehensive Cardiology Clinic; Timothy Raymond, DO, invasive cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure and cardiogenic shock, and Medical Director of the Cardiac Amyloid Clinic—the only amyloidosis clinic in the region; and Ankit Bhatia, MD, cardiologist specializing in advanced heart failure therapies, including LVAD (left ventricular assist device), and cardiac transplantation for oncology patients with heart failure. Dr. Bhatia, who authored a leading textbook in cardio-oncology, is co-director of a hypertrophic cardiology clinic, launching in the fall of 2022, that will include cardio-oncology patients. Because oncology patients often have side effects, a unique approach was needed, so the program was established as a clinic without walls. “We meet with patients anywhere and anytime that we physically have medical facilities,” he said. “Patients can schedule any opening that I or any of my cardio-oncology partners have at any Christ Hospital facility—as close to where the patient lives as possible—and we definitely make these patients a priority.” Locations for meeting with these patients currently include northern Kentucky, southern Indiana, and north to the middle of Ohio.

Patients who benefit from this collaboration are cardiac patients with a cancer diagnosis, cancer patients receiving oncology therapy, including radiation, and childhood cancer survivors—who are beyond therapies but may have cardiac damage. Roughly 20 percent of these cardio-oncology patients are under the age of 30, others have had cancer for decades and are now seeing the cardiovascular effects, and about half are patients who had breast cancer treatment—which has its own special cardio-oncology needs as a result of expanding treatment options.

Shelia Hickey, RN for the cardiology-oncology program, who has been at The Christ Hospital for 23 years, acts as the dedicated “Nurse Navigator” for these patients. "Cancer treatment can be very difficult on your heart, even years after treatment,” she said. “Our cardio-oncology program offers a life-saving continuation of care for young adults who survived childhood cancer, which often impacts cardiovascular health.” Proud to be the first cardio-oncology clinic in the Tristate, and delighted with the award, the team remains focused on the excellence that won them this honor. “Cancer treatments are often impacted by cardiac issues, and we are an important adjunctive therapy to treating cancer,” said Hickey. “We prioritize cardio-oncology consults and can often schedule patients the same day, the next day, and certainly within a week—depending on what they need. We take a lot of pride in that, and our patients really appreciate it.”

About The International Cardio-Oncology Society

Cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are the two most common causes of death and illness worldwide, and the incidence of both increases with age. With increased life expectancy, cancer is now recognized as a chronic disease, as evidenced by a growing number of cancer survivors that currently exceeds 17 million in the United States alone. With further improvement in cancer therapy, this number will likely increase, and as the numbers of survivors grow, so does the number of patients who are living with cancer-related cardiotoxicity. Among Hodgkin lymphoma patients who have received radiation, CVD is one of the most common causes of death. Our vision is to eliminate cardiovascular disease as a barrier to effective cancer therapy in all our patients being treated, or who were previously treated, for cancer. We exist to advance cardiovascular care of cancer patients and survivors by promoting collaboration among researchers, educators, and clinicians around the world.

About The Christ Hospital Health Network

The Christ Hospital Health Network is an acute care hospital located in Mt. Auburn with a remote hospital location in Liberty Township, five ambulatory outpatient centers, and dozens of offices conveniently located throughout the region. More than 1,300 talented physicians and more than 6,000 dedicated team members support the Network. Its mission is to improve the health of the community and to create patient value by providing exceptional outcomes and the finest experiences, all in an affordable way. The Network has been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the #1 hospital in the Cincinnati Region and awarded Healthgrades “America’s 50 Best Hospitals” for being in the top 1% in the nation for providing the highest clinical quality year over year. It is also a Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award recipient, which recognizes top-performing healthcare organizations that achieve the 95th percentile or above of performance in patient experience. The Christ Hospital is among a select number of hospitals in the nation to be awarded Magnet® recognition for nursing excellence. For more than 130 years, The Christ Hospital has provided compassionate care to those it serves.