Chief’s Message:
It was great to see so many of the Duke Health and Duke Heart team our yesterday morning for the AHA Heart Walk. See the pictures and note below. The impact we make in our community and in our patients lives was on full display and hopefully you all will get a chance to see some of that in the stories we share about patient care, research, and training our fellows, residents, and community members in CPR and heart healthy lifestyles. You will also see HTN champions work at the Lincoln clinic and multiple different groups working with our AHA and Duke Teams to raise awareness around cardiovascular disease.
We also had the cardiac imaging symposium last weekend with great turnout. Again we provided relevant and engaging cases based discussions with advanced and routine cardiovascular imaging in ways that our local groups of patients and clinicians can appreciate.
Highlights of the week:
Triangle Heart Walk Held Yesterday
The 2025 Triangle Heart Walk took place yesterday, October 11 at Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, NC. Thank you to all who joined us! We are so proud of each of our entity leaders, team captains, and walkers who committed time to work on behalf of raising these important funds. Combined, Duke Health’s teams raised $120,074 as of this morning for the American Heart Association and was the leading Health system and the #2 company behind Xylem,Inc. in the areas for fundraising for the AHA – great work, everyone! A special thanks to Katie Norcross and Stephanie Galloway of Duke Health marketing for arranging our activation tent, a “reflections experience” that dovetailed nicely with the launch of our new marketing campaign this past week!
Cardiac Imaging Symposium Success!
The Duke Cardiac Imaging Symposium was held Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, at the Trent Semans Center. We had more than 150 people register to join us — nearly double from last year! Twelve companies exhibited, and we had a wide range of learners – cardiac sonographers, MDs, PAs, nurses, NPs, fellows, residents, and students. The annual symposium is dedicated to exploring the latest advancements and techniques in echocardiography through engaging presentations, interactive discussions, and hands-on learning opportunities.
The agenda and a full list of all the speakers can be found on the event website. A big shout-out to Sreek Vemulapalli, Anita Kelsey, Richie Palma, Ashlee Davis, Alicia Armour, and Christy Darnell for working to plan a very successful CME event!
Burkett, McGugan Presenters at Piedmont PA Conference
Melissa Burkett, PA-C, Team Leader of the Duke Aortic Center APPs and Lynn McGugan, NP in the CTICU 7W presented at the Piedmont Association of Physician Assistants Annual Fall Seminar on Saturday, Oct. 11. The duo shared their expertise on how APPs provide continuity of care for aortic surgery patients. The conference was held at Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center in Winston Salem, NC.
Way to go!
Arringdon Service Access Lead Wins Impact Award
Congratulations to Tevin Wilson, Service Access Team Lead at Duke Cardiology Arringdon! Wilson is a co-winner of the 2025 Sharon L. Davis Vision Award as part of the Impact Awards given annually by the Duke Patient Revenue Management Organization (PRMO). Wilson was nominated by Sergio Membreno. His co-winner is Alison Ervin.
This year’s awards were presented on September 25, during a ceremony at Trent Semans Hall. The awards celebrate the extraordinary achievements of individuals and teams aligning with Duke Patient Revenue Management Organization’s (PRMO) focus areas and demonstrating Duke’s values.
More than 115 people were nominated for the 2025 awards, and the top three finalists from each category were invited to the event with their nominators. Keith Stover, Vice President, Finance and Chief Revenue Cycle Officer for PRMO, kicked off the program by welcoming guests. Tom Owens, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, DUHS, joined to give the keynote address, highlighting the vital role PRMO team members play in shaping the patient experience at Duke Health.
Guests were also welcomed by Christie Bowes, Director of Hospital Billing & Collections and Executive Champion of the awards committee, along with emcees Paula Allard, Director, Professional Coding, and Todd Beedy, Manager, Coding Operations.
Tevin is shown here with Keith Stover.
A full list of winners can be found on the Duke Sharepoint site at this link.
Congratulations, Tevin!!!
Did you know? Tidbits about Duke’s Impact on Durham
Over the past two decades, Duke University and Health System has helped create more than 1,000 affordable homes and units and invested more than $22 million with trusted local financial institutions such as Latino Community Credit Union, Mechanics and Farmers Bank, and Self-Help to provide capital for affordable housing developers and local small businesses.
By working at Duke Health, you make a difference not only in the health of people we treat, but with a collective impact throughout our community. Go Duke!
DUHS Updates:
Reminders: Open Enrollment is underway through October 24. Please review your 2026 elections for medical, dental, vision, and reimbursement accounts. Duke’s annual flu vaccination campaign is also underway. The deadline for compliance is Nov. 18. Thank you!
Mitchell Named Health System Operations Center Director
As of Oct. 1, Diane Mitchell, MHA, BSN, RN, has been named Health System Operations Center Director. In this new role, Diane will oversee the team of operations administrators and coordinators across all Duke Health acute care hospitals. This transition is part of a broader DUHS initiative to centralize and unify patient flow link operations across all entities and their respective operations centers.
Since joining Duke Raleigh in 1996, Diane has held a variety of key positions—starting as a bedside nurse and progressing to her current role as director of operations administration. Join us in congratulating Diane on this leadership role expansion and thanking her for her almost three decades of service at Duke Health.
Congratulations, Diane!
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
September 15-October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
October 6-24: Open Enrollment period for 2026 medical benefits
October 9: Flu vaccination season launch
Cardiology Grand Rounds
Oct. 21: Bridging the gap between physician and patient: a view from the other side with Christopher Kontos. 5 p.m. DN 2002 or via Zoom.
MMCVI Grand Rounds
Multi-Modality Cardiovascular Imaging Grand Rounds: A multi-imaging approach to cardiovascular disease cases. Thursdays, Noon to 1 p.m., via Zoom.
Oct. 16: Quality in the Echo Lab with Ashlee Davis
Oct. 23 Topic TBD with Tess Allan
Oct. 30: Cardiovascular Imaging in Pregnancy with Nish Shivakumar
AHA.25 Duke Annual Reception
The annual Duke reception at the upcoming American Heart Association Annual Scientific Sessions will be held on Nov. 8. (Please see email from DCRI for your official invitation.)
The upcoming Sessions will be held Nov. 7-10, 2025, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. This year’s theme is The Future of Cardiovascular Science Starts Here.
We look forward to seeing you!
Reminder: Please let Tracey Koepke know if you are making a presentation at Sessions so that she can plan to include your findings in Pulse. Thank you!
CME Activities:
17th Annual NC RTP Pulmonary Hypertension Symposium — October 31
This symposium will explore optimal diagnostic strategies for treating patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, treatment selection, and timely referrals to specialized PH centers. Clinically challenging presentations, including CTD-PAH, CPPC PH, CTEPH, PH associated with ILD, COPD, portopulmonary hypertension, and PH in end-stage renal disease, will be addressed — with a focus on frontline providers — through interactive lectures and robust case-based discussions. Durham Convention Center. Register here.
Duke Cardiovascular MR Practicum & Board Review – December 8-12
The Fall 2025 course will be held December 8-12 in the Penn Pavilion at Duke University. For more information, contact Michele Parker. The full course brochure and registration link are available here.
Community Events:
Dr. Thomas Bashore Collection Opening – October 29
The collection opening celebration is scheduled for October 29 at 4:30 p.m. in the Holsti Anderson Family Assembly Room, Room 153, Rubenstein Library, Duke University, West Campus.
Have news to share?
If you have news to share with the Pulse readership, please contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart & Vascular at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our team. Please call me with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged. Submissions by Noon on Wednesdays will be considered for weekend inclusion.
Duke Heart in the News:
October 3 — Stephen Greene
Consultant Live
Expert Perspectives: Top News in Heart Failure from HFSA Annual Scientific Meeting 2025
October 6 — Stephen Greene
AJMC/Commentary
Aggressive Therapy Recommendations Following the STRONG-HF Trials: Stephen J. Greene, MD
October 6 — Duke Health (Duke Children’s #3)
Cardiovascular Business
The best children’s heart hospitals in the US
October 7 — Neha Pagidipati
AARP
99 Percent of Heart Attacks and Strokes Are Linked to Modifiable Risk Factors
October 9 — Robert Califf
tctmd
What’s Going to Be Hot at TCT 2025
October 10 — Neha Pagidipati
Medscape
Considering Cardiovascular Risk Factors: Are There Fewer SMuRF-less Patients Than We Thought?
