SafeHeart offers cardiovascular screenings
Published in the business section of the Hattiesburg American 7/5/08
by Emma James
SafeHeart Health Screens is taking cardiovascular screenings on the road. The Hattiesburg-based screening company has seen both a name and location change as they gear up to expand services to Louisiana and Alabama this month. Both changes, President and Chief Executive Officer Karen Wilkins said, have been for the better.
Formerly known as LiveWell, the screening company, changed its name to SafeHeart to avoid trademark conflicts as a result of the company’s expansion. SafeHeart also moved from the University of Southern Mississippi’s small business incubator to a location on South 28th Avenue in June.
“The small business incubator is a wonderful service,” Wilkins said. “There is always someone to go to for advice on taxes or marketing. It’s a great opportunity for new businesses. We had just outgrown the space and wanted to move to a bigger location.”
SafeHeart was the winner of the University of Southern Mississippi’s Golden Eagle Challenge 2006, a contest sponsored by an entrepreneurship class at Southern Miss that judges student business plans. Wilkins put her plan into practice, launching SafeHeart in January.
“At the time, there was a company from Ohio coming in and screening in Mississippi,” she said. “We didn’t have anyone local to offer those services, and that’s where the business idea for SafeHeart came from.”
SafeHeart’s central office is in Hattiesburg, but the company’s real location is on the road. A five-person team of two ultrasound technologists, two licensed nurse practitioners and an administrative assistant travel around the state to conduct one-day cardiovascular screening sessions as well as a seminar on cardiovascular health.
The $129 screening consists of five separate tests and a session takes 20 and 30 minutes. Participants call ahead to make an appointment to be screened.
Patients fill out paperwork with personal information and the name of an attending physician they want their results referred to if there is an abnormality. The ultrasound screens include a carotid artery ultrasound screen, which identifies plaque buildup and blockages in the arteries; a carotid intima media thickness screen, which measures artery wall thickness; and an abdominal aortic aneurysm screen, which looks for abnormal enlargements in the abdominal aorta.
The other screens are a peripheral vascular disease screen, which assesses risk of heart disease or stroke by examining circulation to the lower extremities, and an atrial fibrillation screen, which looks for the presence of an abnormal heart rhythm that may lead to blood clots in the heart.
Once the screening is completed, the tests are sent to the Hattiesburg Radiology Group, where interventional radiologists Greg Vickers, Neil Solomon, Alex Pachnanda and Ronald Young interpret the results. Reports are then sent out to patients, who receive the results in about 14 days. If there are any abnormal results, Mississippi law requires the company to forward them to the patient’s doctor of choice.
“We aren’t affiliated with any doctor’s group,” Wilkins said. “We don’t do referrals of any kind. We screen and send a copy of the results to the patient’s doctor of choice, who then follows up with the patient about their care.”
If a severe abnormality, such as a large aneurysm, is found at the screening, protocols are in place to get the patient immediate medical attention.
“That has happened in the past,” Wilkins said. “Our target market is the asymtomatic. People will come into the screenings feeling perfectly fine, but really they have a big problem they had no idea they had.”
Approximately half of all heart attack and stroke victims have no warning signs, Wilkins said. Most of the patients SafeHeart sees are in their fifties or older, she said, although the best age to begin yearly health screening depends on overall health and lifestyle.
Regardless of age, Wilkins said, the objective of the screening is to bring possible health problems to a patient’s attention as well as give them peace of mind.
“Whether the results are good or bad, the patient will have peace of mind,” Wilkins said. “The results are normal and they have a clean bill of health, or there is a problem but they are aware of it and can now get follow-up care. It’s a win-win situation.”
