The Team [Please note that we are in the building phase]

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From my 10 year of hands-on real world experience in adult echocardiography and performing thousands of related adult transthoracic echocardiograms (TTEs) and assisting cardiologists with over 1,000 transesophageal echocardiograms (TEEs), I have decided to launch and dedicated this website to sharing my clinical knowledge and experience. 

This website will also be a high-quality online source of cardiovascular industry news, updates, major related scientific topics and breakthroughs, information about cardiovascular medical devices and advanced therapies, and various clinical and business perspectives from licensed physicians, medical device and biotech company executives, reputable healthcare industry consultants, medical professors, scientific researchers, Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Registered Nurses (RNs), Physician Assistants (PAs), Cardiology Fellows, and other influential and expert voices in the cardiovascular field and market. 

My clinical experience was gained in Regional Hospitals, Private Cardiologists' and Internists' Offices, Community Clinics, and performing mobile adult transthoracic echocardiograms for mobile echocardiography firms. I've worked as an echocardiographer technician in New Jersey, the New York City Metropolitan Area, Maryland, North Carolina, South Florida, and Hawaii. I've worked for and provided echocardiography support and scanning services to around 30 state licensed cardiologists, both interventional and non-interventional. 

Additionally, I independently developed, led, and instructed [both didactics and ultrasound lab practicals] a full adult echocardiography course from 2009 to 2014 for Healthcare Training Institute (HTINJ), Union, NJ. This course was very successful as I received letters of recommendations from past students, many former students passed their echocardiography board exams [ARDMS and CCI], and they have grown successfully in their echocardiography and sonographer careers to become managers, directors, and healthcare educators.  

Building this course and instructing echocardiography students and seeing them blossom as echocardiographer technicians has been one of the most fulfilling endeavors of my career. 

Since leaving hands-on echo scanning in 2014 I launched my private cardiovascular technology marketing consulting firm [prior to entering the echocardiography field in 2004, I worked in various marketing roles in the telecommunications industry, including Program Manager, Sr. Analyst, and Business & Research Analyst for Fortune 500 companies and boutique telecommunications research and consulting firms]. 

I have also ventured into healthcare and medical technology journalism and my articles have been published in Inventor's Digest, www.inventorsdigest.com , Global Innovation Magazine, www.globalinnovationmagazine.com , mHealthTalk, www.mhealthtalk.com, and I also authored a guest post for Bioinformant, www.bioinformant.com about cardiac stem cell therapies, direct link to article: https://bioinformant.com/cardiac-stem-cell-therapies/ 

I carried out my echocardiography clinical internship at CareWell Health, East Orange, NJ [formerly East Orange Hospital] and my echocardiography clinical externship at Riverview Medical Center [Hackensack Meridian Health], Red Bank, NJ. 

Below is a review of my education and clinical training hours:

Sanford-Brown Institute [Formerly known as Ultrasound Diagnostic School – UDS], Iselin, NJ

Non-invasive Cardiovascular Technology Certification, 11/2004

Program hours: 1860 [940 didactics & clinical applications, 920 clinical externship]

New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York, NY

B.S., Business Administration, Major: Marketing, 05/1997

I served honorably in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a 3rd Class Petty Officer, Storekeeper [E4/SK3] where I was billeted to Merchant Logistics units specializing in Connected Replenishment (CONREP). I also possess experience working as a Training Instructor [GS-11], Federal Civilian employee for the U.S. Navy focusing on Workforce Skills & Maintenance of Certifications.    

On a personal note, I absolutely love the outdoors and especially the ocean and beach. I find time in nature to be highly conducive to reflection as well as mentally refreshing. I am a PADI certified scuba diver, and it's one of the best experiences being within the underwater habitat and viewing the beautiful sea life. 

I am also passionate about health & fitness and began a vigorous regimen of interval running and strength training at the age of 13. I am a big fan and enthusiast of track & field, having run the 800 meter race competitively in my youth as well as the 4 X 400 meter relay race. I have shared my passion for health & fitness through articles on social media for the benefit of interested parties, such as this mini-guide to health & fitness: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-health-asset-why-investing-today-pay-handsome-future-thornton-1/

This is a link to other of my LinkedIn [Pulse] articles about medical technology, biotech, healthcare policy & models, and personal development and career & life management: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cliffordthornton/recent-activity/posts/

As you can see I have a passion for sharing information on topics that I have strong knowledge on. I believe information sharing on important topics, is well, very important. As they say "knowledge is power" and I am a firm believer of this. I am constantly reading voraciously on a range of topics and subject matters. 

One of my driving purposes is to improve global health and also uplift the quality of life for others. 

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) remain the #1 killer in the United States and most of the developed world. The United States spends approximately $600 Billion per year on treating cardiovascular diseases and globally this figure is approximately $1 Trillion. But, it is not just the cost of delivering care that is the problem. There is also the significant problem of lost economic productivity of affected patients. The cumulative global economic losses from CVDs [2011 –2025] = $3.64 trillion [Source: Global and Regional Patterns in Cardiovascular Mortality From 1990 to 2013. Circulation. 2015;132:1667-1678. DOI: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.008720.] 

Societies throughout the world must do more to fight CVD and more to prevent it from impacting their populations to such a severe degree. We need better, stronger, and more robust health education courses, public health & fitness programs, and more community walking trails and recreation centers. 

On a healthcare policy level their must be a much greater focus on preventive healthcare in medical schools and for nurse practitioner, registered nurse, and physician assistant training programs and related clinical curriculum. 

And on the financial side there must be significantly increased reimbursement for preventive healthcare services by private health insurers, employer prepaid health insurance organizations, Tri-Care, Medicare, and Medicaid. 

In order to achieve improved global health we must change "direction of the ship" and reinvent, innovate and implement new healthcare models that are not just focused on limiting the affects or managing a disease [AKA  "the band-aid approach"], but instead focus on individuals' overall health, both mental and physical.

 Until we redirect our attention to this and implement and deploy models that will allow for and be aligned with "total health", we won't be practicing and providing healthcare in the way that we should and that is moral, just, and effective. 

It is not just about providing health insurance to the population, but it is also about what services that health insurance encompasses, what the expectations are for what it will and should achieve for patients [through real-world and substantiated metrics], and how and at what quality-level healthcare services are designed, managed, and delivered. 

My overarching philosophy is that moving the focus to preventive care and total health, will, in the long run, reduce the overall annual expenditures on healthcare for the U.S. and other nations. For the U.S. this is essential as healthcare is nearing 20.0% of U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This is a problem because it's not healthy for the economy nor the overall status of the U.S. to dedicate so much of our financial resources on just the healthcare sector. 

We urgently and very seriously need to invest in U.S. infrastructure [roads, bridges, tunnels, railways, electric network, internet backbone, etc.], education [for children and adults], emerging technologies research [nanotech, materials science, IoT, etc.], and national defense and the various U.S. military branches [Navy, Army, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard]. 

This also rings true for most U.S. allies as they are also facing similar economic and national defense challenges. The U.S. needs to maintain a diversified economy, therefore it's critical that we keep total annual healthcare spending in check and at a reasonable level. The bottom line is that the current annual increases in total U.S. healthcare spending and growing piece of the GDP pie is unsustainable. In 2021 U.S. healthcare spending grew year-over-year nearly 3.0% to $4.3 Trillion.

If you should have any inquiries about the above content, subject matters, or trends please feel free to email me at: clifford.thornton@gmail.com