The human heart is a complicated, masterfully designed organ on the one hand — but incredibly simple on the other. It is a pump. And like any pump, it’s got parts that can wear out. Case in point: its valves…

 “So these valves have to open and close every single time the heart beats,” said Nikolaos Kakouros, MD, a cardiologist at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.

Neither radiologists nor artificial intelligence algorithms have a perfect track record when it comes to diagnostic accuracy, but quality assurance measures can help to bridge the gap in discordance between the two.

“Once implemented in clinical practice, quality assurance and monitoring processes need to be embedded into the AI augmented radiology clinical workflow,” corresponding author M. Chekmeyan, with the Department of Radiology at UMass Chan Medical School, UMass Memorial Medical Center, and colleagues explained…

Epstein-Barr is one of the world’s most common human viruses and the most frequent cause of infectious mononucleosis — the “kissing disease” that’s the scourge of college campuses…

Lori Simkowitz-Lavigne is the interim vice president for emergency services at UMass Memorial Health's Community Healthlink. She said while not every day, mental health clinicians are dispatched regularly in an attempt to de-escalate tense situations. "To understand what might be going on for the individual mental health wise, thoughts, feelings, behavior wise, and to respond to those in an informed way," Simkowitz-Lavigne said.

There are many creative ways that hospitals and care providers support their communities beyond offering great medical care. In 2017 UMass Memorial Health chose to reimagine itself as an “anchor” hospital, taking on much more responsibility for the welfare of the communities it serves. Hear how in this conversation between John Haupert, president and CEO of Grady Health System and the 2023 Chair of AHA’s Board, and Doug Brown, president of Community Hospitals and chief anchor officer of UMass Memorial Health.

"AI as a co-pilot will be the next phase of the electronic health record," Eric Alper, MD, chief clinical informatics officer of Worcester, Mass.-based UMass Memorial Health, told 

Dr. Eric Alper is a senior vice president, chief quality officer, and chief clinical informatics officer at UMass Memorial Health. “The AI isn't doing medicine,” said Alper, who is chief clinical informatics officer and senior vice president, chief quality officer in addition to his medical practice at UMass Memorial. Though the technology shouldn’t take the driver’s seat, the three believe AI in medical records might be the solution physicians have been waiting for, after years of burdensome electronic health record processes.

Dr. Shahzad Khan, a pulmonologist at UMass Memorial Health, said people need to connect air quality with their health and any symptoms they might be feeling. “Any time there is an increase in particulates in the atmosphere and they are inhaled, it can cause a flare-up or exacerbation of health problems,” Khan said.

Led by Christopher C. Hemond, MD, neurologist, UMass Memorial Health, the study featured 23 females with relapsing-remitting MS who were offered 8 weeks of MBSR free of charge. After a 12-week observation period, treatment with MBSR was associated with robust (d >.08) improvements across a range of unadjusted PROs, including stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue, loneliness, well-being, and interoceptive awareness (all P <.01).