Duke’s knowledge and experience in cardiovascular care and clinical quality span both academic and community healthcare settings. With this serving as our foundation, the Duke Heart Network partners with the Duke Heart Center multidisciplinary team of experts to provide evidence-based program development, quality oversight and performance improvement work to affiliates. Our national and regional experience executing cardiovascular affiliations and developing patient-centered programs, makes our team uniquely qualified to assist our partners in developing action plans to address service line challenges and priority areas of opportunity. The goal of the Duke Heart Network is to enhance the quality of cardiovascular care in the local community to keep patients close to home. Our team has a proven track record of helping affiliate hospitals to launch new interventional, structural heart and open-heart surgery programs. The Duke Heart Network team provides the expertise from strategic planning, capital needs assessment and overall project management.

The goal of the Duke Heart Network is to partner together to achieve the following:

  • Foster a team that is committed to building a culture of excellence where everyone is connected to quality patient outcomes and performance improvement through enhanced communication and interdisciplinary collaboration
  • Address areas of opportunity that will enhance the delivery of quality care to include interventions that align with national standards, best practice and high-quality patient outcomes
  • Expand the manner in which data is collected and utilized to drive performance improvement and impact clinical outcomes; focusing on key interdisciplinary stakeholders as the quality champions
  • Provide expert consultative support on national cardiovascular registry abstraction, report generation and clinical documentation of risk variables for each procedure type
  • Provide guidance and expert consultation on policy and procedure documents, order set development/revision and staff competency/onboarding checklists

Our Approach

Duke Heart Network affiliates range from facilities with diagnostic catheterization lab capabilities to those with full cardiovascular service lines to include open heart surgery with mechanical circulatory support. Our affiliations are tailored to meet the needs of your program and can range from a focused programmatic area to the full service line. Our approach is adaptable and offers the following:

  • Programmatic expertise in building/enhancing multidisciplinary models of care within cardiology, cardiac surgery, heart failure, electrophysiology, structural heart, peripheral vascular procedures, and mechanical circulatory support
  • Hybrid approach inclusive of onsite and virtual work based on the scope of the project and a mutually agreed upon cadence
  • Thought leaders in cardiovascular medicine, team development, process improvement, programmatic readiness and operational excellence
  • A dedicated team experienced in working with affiliates to identify and achieve their program, quality and safety goals

Each of our affiliations is unique, and we are dedicated to customizing support and services to meet the specific cardiovascular needs and objectives of each hospital.

Working with the Duke Heart Network means tapping into a full team of specialists dedicated to delivering top-tier cardiovascular care. Learn about the collaborative spirit and shared expertise that elevate outcomes for patients across affiliated hospitals.

Duke Heart Network Affiliate Sites

Legend
Heart Network Affiliates
Alamance Regional
Burlington, NC
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
Chesapeake, VA
DLP Cardiac Partners, NC*
Charlotte, NC
Frye Regional Medical Center*
Hickory, NC
SOVAH Health Danville
Danville, VA
SOVAH Health Martinsville
Martinsville, VA
UNC Health Southeastern
Lumberton, NC
UPHS Marquette*
Marquette, MI

Heart Network Affiliates

Alamance Regional
Burlington, NC
Chesapeake Regional Medical Center
Chesapeake, VA
DLP Cardiac Partners, NC*
Charlotte, NC
Frye Regional Medical Center*
Hickory, NC
SOVAH Health Danville
Danville, VA
SOVAH Health Martinsville
Martinsville, VA
UNC Health Southeastern
Lumberton, NC
UPHS Marquette*
Marquette, MI
* Duke LifePoint Healthcare

Duke Heart Network

Headshot of Lisa Kotyra

Lisa Kotyra, MSBA, RN, ACNP-BC

Senior Director, Duke Heart Network
Headshot of Jessica Couture

Jessica Couture, MSN, RN, CV-BC

Associate Clinical Director, Duke Heart Network
Headshot of Danielle Hendren

Danielle Hendren, MSN, RN

Associate Clinical Director, Duke Heart Network
Headshot of Natalie Horseman

Natalie Horseman, MSN, RN, CNOR

Associate Clinical Director, Duke Heart Network
Headshot of Laurie Van Camp

Laurie Van Camp, MSN, RN

Associate Clinical Director, Duke Heart Network
Headshot of Jay Twiford

Jay Twiford

Management Engineer, Duke Heart Network
Headhot of Brittney Bowen

Brittney Bowen

Administrative Specialist

Duke Heart Center Leaders

Manesh R. Patel, MD

Manesh R. Patel, MD

Division Chief, Cardiology, Vice President Heart and Vascular Services
Carmelo A. Milano, MD

Carmelo A. Milano, MD

Joseph W. and Dorothy W. Beard Distinguished Professor of Surgery, Division Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery
Jill Engel

Jill R. Engel, DNP, ACNP, FNP, NEA-BC, FAANP

Vice President, Heart and Vascular Services, Duke University Health System
William Schuyler Jones, MD

Schuyler Jones, MD

Professor of Medicine, Medical Director, Cardiac Catheterization Labs and Invasive Labs Service Line
Peter K. Smith, MD

Peter K. Smith, MD

Mary and Deryl Hart Professor of Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery
Chetan B. Patel, MD

Chetan B. Patel, MD

Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology, Vice Chief for Outreach and Network Development
James E. Tcheng, MD

James E. Tcheng, MD

Associate Dean for Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure, Professor of Medicine (Cardiovascular)
Jonathan P. Piccini Sr., MD, MHSc

Jonathan P. Piccini Sr., MD, MHSc

Professor of Medicine, Director Cardiac Electrophysiology

The Duke Heart Network emphasizes the value of collaboration, quick access to specialized knowledge, and the reassurance that comes from having a trusted partner in patient care.