A cardiovascular leader furthers a vision of providing advanced services close to home.
Doctors focus on heart health for good reason: Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women alike. Significant risk factors for cardiovascular problems are extremely common and include high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, unhealthy eating, lack of physical activity and elevated levels of certain types of cholesterol.
Improving cardiovascular health throughout New Jersey is a key goal for RWJBarnabas Health. The health system continues to invest in medical expertise, technology, facilities and leadership to meet that goal.
Conor Barrett, MD, MBA, the recently named Chief Clinical Officer and Senior Vice President, Heart and Vascular Services, RWJBarnabas Health, offers his views on the challenges and opportunities of improving heart health in communities statewide.
What drew you to RWJBarnabas Health?
For decades, RWJBarnabas Health has delivered advanced heart and vascular care while pioneering breakthrough techniques that have revolutionized the field. As an award-winning cardiac care hospital network serving New Jersey, the RWJBarnabas Health Heart and Vascular program is among the top heart programs in the United States. We bring innovation to the changing landscape of heart care with a truly integrated and united network approach to managing care across the system’s 12 hospitals and approximately 100 ambulatory practice locations.
RWJBarnabas Health’s extensive network of cardiac diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic technology—including more than 30 cardiac catheterization labs, ambulatory diagnostic testing, cardiac CT and cardiac PET/CT—is New Jersey’s most comprehensive.
With one of the nation’s largest heart transplant programs (and the only one in New Jersey), RWJBarnabas Health is a leader in advancement of interventions for heart failure patients. More than 1,450 heart transplants have been completed at our two transplant centers: Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH), in New Brunswick, and Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBIMC).
Each of the system’s four cardiac surgical centers—Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center, RWJUH, NBIMC and Jersey City Medical Center—is an award-winning cardiac hospital with an integrated and expert team of cardiac specialists.
In addition, as New Jersey’s largest provider of charity care and care to beneficiaries of Medicaid, RWJBarnabas Health is an essential component of New Jersey’s safety net for patients with heart disease.
What are some developments that excite you about the future?
Our heart surgeons continue to enhance outcomes as leaders in minimally invasive valve repair procedures and structural heart abnormalities. As the state’s largest collective structural heart program, we have performed over 5,000 structural heart procedures. We’re also a regional leader in stroke-risk reduction for patients with atrial fibrillation.
In partnership with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and RWJUH, RWJBarnabas Health is also New Jersey’s most comprehensive academic health system. We train tomorrow’s heart specialists through residency and fellowship programs while also advancing breakthroughs in cardiovascular research, conducting more research than any other system in the state. Our broadly integrated fellowship programs include more than 75 fellows in training today. So not only are we providing care to those who need us currently, we are also continuously investing in educating and mentoring the heart and vascular experts of the future.
How do you see technology making a difference going forward?
RWJBarnabas Health is pioneering advancements in artificial intelligence, imaging and digital health. Through our deep collaboration with Rutgers, as well as SciTech, we continue to innovate and deliver on our mission of advancing cardiac care. As a hub for multidisciplinary collaboration, we bring together cardiovascular scientists, engineers, imagers and trainees to drive innovation from concept to clinical implementation. Our engineering and research efforts are strongly supported by integrated, cross-disciplinary innovation with internationally recognized investigators ranked among the top 1 percent of U.S. physicians. We’re committed to integrating innovative technologies that directly enhance patient outcomes and the quality of care.
Can you give some examples?
One of our most impactful advancements has been realizing the return on our investment in our Epic electronic medical record system to improve clinical decision-making, patient safety and care coordination.
Since our final site went live in October 2024, we have focused on optimizing Epic to enhance patient scheduling and experience, reduce hospital readmissions and implement critical safety measures. For example, in our critical-care settings, our team designed an initiative that demonstrated how automated alerts to providers’ handheld devices ultimately help prevent complications before they arise.
Our paradigm of “keeping appropriate care local” is facilitated by both our advanced IT infrastructure and our cardiac network’s broad scale and scope.
We continually improve our ability to provide the highest level of care in the most efficient and quality-oriented fashion at a location most convenient to each patient. In essence, we aim to deliver the most advanced care available as close as possible to each patient who needs us. Utilizing our broad cardiac network of providers and our unified, system-wide electronic medical record, we are very well placed to help our patients see the correct heart specialist within the correct timeframe at the most patient-convenient location.
With significant funding from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the National Science Foundation; and industry partners, we’ve led transformative studies—including the use of wrist-worn sensors for early detection of heart attacks, pocket ultrasound devices to reduce heart failure hospitalizations and AI-driven ECG models (also known as EKG) for diagnosing structural heart diseases. We have also led the way in procedural clinical studies, allowing patients of the RWJBH Heart & Vascular program to access trials not easily available elsewhere.
How does being a comprehensive program benefit patients?
Factors such as operating New Jersey’s largest advanced heart failure program, having the state’s only heart transplant program, providing 30-plus cardiac catheterization labs with the highest volume in the state, and being equipped with cardiac surgical and hybrid operating rooms have a cumulative impact.
They allow innovative technologies to be available not only at our major academic centers but also throughout our heart and vascular network in New Jersey. By combining advanced technology with a strong focus on patient satisfaction, safety and outcomes, RWJBarnabas Health continues to set new standards in cardiac care, ensuring patients have access to cutting-edge treatments across the state.
No one plans on heart disease, but everyone should have a plan for it. Connect with an RWJBarnabas Health heart and vascular specialist at 888-724-7123.
View full issues of Healthy Together magazine by New Jersey region:Northeast, serving the community of Jersey City Medical Center in Jersey City
Northwest, serving the communities of Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in Newark, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway, and Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth
Central, serving the communities of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, New Brunswick and Somerset
South, serving the communities of Community Medical Center in Toms River, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, and Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood