Inova Schar Heart and Vascular 2023 highlights
Transformational gift launches new chapter in development of heart and vascular services
Longtime supporters of Inova, Dwight and Martha Schar, announced a major new gift of $75 million dedicated to the expansion and development of the health system’s heart and vascular programs.
The Schars’ gift – one of the largest dedicated to heart health in the country – will play a vital role in innovative cardiovascular care delivery. In recognition of their transformational commitment to our community, the service line has been renamed Inova Schar Heart and Vascular.
Dwight and Martha Schar with Christopher O'Connor, MD, President of Inova Schar Heart and Vascular
Top six research papers published in 2023
Primary authorship of published papers
Editorials or perspectives
Served on author panel
Inova’s strong commitment to clinical research across a broad range of cardiovascular, vascular and advanced lung conditions allows our patients access to the highest quality, most innovative detection, diagnosis and treatment options. Academic excellence is an important priority, and publication of findings in top-tier journals helps raise the standard of care for patients throughout the world.
Over the past year, Inova Schar Heart and Vascular faculty have served in a primary authorship role for more than 70 papers, wrote editorials or perspectives on 42 papers, and served on the author panel for an additional 120+ articles.
Our top publications in 2023 include review articles as well as reports of ongoing clinical research. The topics cover a broad spectrum including diagnostics in heart transplantation on the cellular level, advances in treatment of pulmonary hypertension, interventional topics and treatment considerations in older adults. We are proud to play a role in developing and testing novel therapies and providing reviews and analyses of existing research to improve the lives of patients suffering from cardiovascular and lung disease.
Expanded programs
Inova Schar Heart and Vascular Leadership Academy
“Training our clinical leaders is an important priority as we evolve and transform to better meet the needs of the patients we serve”
Strong clinical leadership plays a pivotal role in ensuring the delivery of top-tier patient care. Acknowledging that most training programs for physicians and advanced practice providers do not include the essential management and leadership competencies needed for successful clinical leadership, Inova Schar Heart and Vascular's leaders developed a comprehensive 10-month leadership training program.
The program delivers foundational training over seven full-day sessions, led by esteemed faculty from the American Association for Physician Leadership, and culminates in participants presenting their capstone leadership projects to Inova’s leadership team. Since its launch in 2015, 64 physicians and six advanced practice providers have successfully completed the program and implemented many of these capstone projects to improve the value and delivery of patient care.
The Inova Schar Heart and Vascular Leadership Academy utilizes a comprehensive curriculum with self-assessment tools to provide participants with valuable insights into their individual strengths, mindset and areas for growth. Additionally, these tools foster a deeper comprehension of and appreciation for diversity in personality types and behavioral styles. The program also offers important training in healthcare finance, health policy and law as well as focusing on communication skills. Trainees are provided mentors and participate in dinners with different industry leaders, giving a wide range of expertise and valuable perspective.
“The value of this training is clear,” said Warren Levy, MD, Senior Advisor to Inova Schar Heart and Vascular and Program Director for the Inova Schar Heart and Vascular Leadership Academy. “Those who have completed the program report taking on increased responsibilities and receiving positive feedback about their performance and leadership. Those who have served as mentors report seeing significant improvement in leadership ability, communication and engagement.”
“Training our clinical leaders is an important priority as we evolve and transform to better meet the needs of the patients we serve,” said Christopher O’Connor, MD, President of Inova Schar Heart and Vascular.
Front row (from left): Kathleen Brindza, Jennifer Collier, Leslie Johnson, Isabelle Rittenhouse, Leila Elliot; back row (from left): J'Nay Moretti, Luisa Villanueva, Shirley Riggsbee, William Fitzgerald, Vickie Barber; not pictured: Bret Gallardo, Jaclyn Brubeck
Outcomes registry team
Inova Schar Heart and Vascular's outcomes team is a dedicated and dynamic group of healthcare professionals at the forefront of advancing patient care in the field of cardiovascular health. Committed to excellence, this team plays a pivotal role in managing and harnessing valuable data from cardiovascular registries to enhance patient outcomes, monitor performance and identify areas of opportunity within the healthcare system.
The team comprises a diverse array of experts, including cardiovascular nurses, data analysts, information technologists, and quality improvement professionals. Their collective expertise spans the entire spectrum of cardiovascular care, allowing for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to data management and analysis. Data submissions coordinated by this team become part of multiple national datasets such as the American College of Cardiology’s National Cardiovascular Data Registry, Society of Thoracic Surgery and the Society of Vascular Surgery’s VQI, to provide Inova comparative benchmarking data.
