Medtronic, ACCESS GPO Craft Supply Agreement for Affera Mapping and Ablation System

ACCESS GPO announced a preferred, multi-year agreement with Medtronic to provide the Affera Mapping and Ablation System with Sphere-9 Catheter to U.S. ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). The agreement aims to help physician-led ASCs gain earlier access to next-generation technology for treating cardiac arrhythmias in the ASC setting.

“This agreement is about broadening the reach of a new and safer treatment and ensuring independent, physician-led ASCs have a real opportunity to participate in the future of ablation,” said Dr. Vivek Reddy, director of Cardiac Arrhythmia Services at The Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and the Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. “As innovation accelerates, physician-led centers should not have to wait for access, nor should the patients they treat.”

Pulsed field ablation (PFA) is emerging as one of the most important advances in treating atrial fibrillation. In the ASC setting, successful adoption depends on the technology itself and whether it can be implemented with the right workflow alignment, efficiency, and strategic support. ACCESS GPO is partnering with Medtronic to help ASCs meet that challenge.

“Physician governance of partnerships in ASCs is essential to ensure the focus remains on critical success factors such as clinical quality and sustainable adoption while also providing the best treatment for patients,” said Dr. Arash Aryana, medical director of Cardiovascular Services and the Cardiac Electrophysiology Laboratory at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, Calif. “Our goal is to support and foster strong physician governance as ASCs expand and evolve.”

As a physician-led group purchasing organization focused on electrophysiology in ASCs, ACCESS GPO chose the Affera system and Sphere-9 catheter for its safety, efficacy and versatility for patients. Sphere-9 is an all-in-one, high-density mapping and dual energy (radiofrequency and pulsed field) ablation catheter that has been adopted by electrophysiologists worldwide. Besides its favorable safety and efficacy profile, Sphere-9 provides improved lab efficiency and workflow for physicians to address various arrhythmias.

“With the rise of PFA, this is an exciting time in electrophysiology with safer and more efficient technologies available,” said Dr. Vijay Swarup, executive medical director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Arizona Heart Rhythm Center in Phoenix. “With ACCESS GPO, we are enabling physician-led ASCs to gain access to this innovation sooner, with the support needed for successful adoption.”

ACCESS GPO is a physician-led group purchasing organization focused on supporting ambulatory surgery centers, with a particular emphasis on cardiac electrophysiology. The organization works to improve access to advanced technologies, strengthen procedural economics, and preserve physician-led governance as more complex cardiovascular care moves into the outpatient setting. By building strategic vendor relationships around those principles, ACCESS GPO aims to strengthen the long-term foundation for advanced cardiac electrophysiology in ASCs.