When it comes to heart disease, every patient wants to know they are in the best possible hands. Patients at Maimonides have the reassurance of knowing that the Medical Center offers cutting-edge medical and surgical approaches to treating heart attacks and coronary artery disease, with experts from a variety of backgrounds coming together to deliver some of the best cardiac care in the country.
According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, Maimonides’ Heart and Vascular Institute has been in the top 1% of hospitals in the U.S. for heart attack survival for the last five years in a row. Maimonides is also in the top 1% for patient outcomes for angioplasty and stents in New York, with the lowest mortality rates in the state. According to the New York State Department of Health, it is the best hospital at which to undergo a PCI, in terms of risk-adjusted mortality rate (2012-18). Maimonides has also been named by Healthgrades as one of America’s 50 Best Hospitals for Cardiac Surgery for the last three years in a row.
Elliot Borgen, MD, is one of Maimonides’ longest serving interventional cardiologists and has contributed to the award-winning excellence of the Maimonides Heart & Vascular Institute through his incredible clinical skills and dedication to patients.
An expert in ischemic and structural heart care, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), percutaneous coronary intervention, angioplasties, stenting, interventional ultrasound, and rotablation, Dr. Borgen has been a specialist in the Department of Cardiology since 2000. A lot has changed in the field since then, but part of what he loves about cardiology is the opportunity to utilize new technologies for the best patient outcomes.
“For me, cardiology was always a very exciting field,” Dr. Borgen said. “The technology is always moving forward. I love doing it, and then I love following up with patients afterward in the office. It’s very gratifying.”
#1 in New York for Survival Rates
While Dr. Borgen’s patients and colleagues have known about his expertise for years, you don’t just have to take their word for it — Dr. Borgen’s patient outcome statistics show that he is truly a world-class interventional cardiologist. According to the New York State Department of Health, he is the only interventional cardiologist in New York who had a risk-adjusted mortality rate (RAMR) significantly lower than the statewide rate based on a 95 percent confidence interval in the last three consecutive reporting periods (2020-2022). This means patients facing challenges like heart disease or a heart attacks are more likely to survive under his care than under that of any other doctor in New York. In the 2021 reporting period, Dr. Borgen also had the lowest risk of adjusted mortality rate for PCI patients.
“Not Just Another Procedure”: Maimonides’ Patient-Centered, Team-Oriented Approach
These impressive outcomes are a result of Dr. Borgen’s specialty of carefully tailored care and treatments based on each individual patient when performing complex, high-risk procedures. He also credits the support of his colleagues and the Cardiology Department staff.
“The Department of Cardiology here is excellent — it’s a very close-knit group,” he said. “I am constantly asking my colleagues for their input, and I review cases all the time with my colleagues — ‘Should we stent it? Should we not stent it? Should we send the patient to surgery?’ A lot of thought goes into every patient, it’s not just another procedure, another number, another billing event — we treat patients like people, like human beings, and a lot of thought goes into how we care for these people.”
