Why “Best of Breed” Still Matters in Cardiology
In healthcare IT, trends often move in cycles. One concept that has come in and out of favor over the past 5 years is the “best of breed” approach. For some, the term conjures up memories of disconnected systems, costly integrations, and IT headaches. But in cardiology, where clinical depth and precision matter most, best of breed isn’t a bygone relic, it’s an innovative necessity.
The Rise of Best of Breed
The “best of breed” model emerged as a response to an important gap. Large enterprise vendors could provide broad coverage across multiple care areas, but their solutions rarely had the specialized depth needed in complex specialties like invasive or pediatric cardiology.
Specialized vendors stepped in to meet that need, offering highly tailored tools built specifically for clinicians. This made sense: why settle for a one-size-fits-all platform when a specialized solution could deliver better usability, richer insights, and workflows designed around the realities of specialty care?
The Fall and Lessons Learned
Despite its promise, best of breed never achieved widespread adoption. The challenges were real:
● Disconnected systems created silos rather than seamless workflows.
● Integration was difficult and costly, with IT complexity often outweighing the benefits.
● Support required multiple contracts and touchpoints, leaving organizations without a central vendor to manage accountability.
For most organizations, the model became unsustainable. Only the largest hospitals with highly skilled technical teams could realistically embrace it. Over time, enterprise vendors acquired and absorbed many of the most promising solutions, pulling the market back toward “all-in-one” systems.
Why Specialization Still Matters
The reality is cardiology isn’t like every other specialty, and it’s time we stop treating it as such. It truly is its own enterprise. Cardiologists need advanced imaging workflows, pediatric teams need tailored reporting, and multidisciplinary care teams need tools that don’t just work, but fit.
That’s why the principle behind best of breed still matters. While organizations need integration, scalability, and enterprise reliability, they also need specialty-driven depth. It’s
not about going back to the disjointed models of the past, it’s about re-imagining best of breed in a way that works for today’s healthcare environment.
Partnership in Action: ASCEND + Konica Minolta
This vision of “best of breed without compromise” is exactly what is being realized through the new partnership between ASCEND and Konica Minolta Healthcare. Konica Minolta brings its proven Exa Enterprise platform – trusted in radiology and across the enterprise – while ASCEND delivers purpose-built cardiovascular imaging workflows that treat cardiology as the “enterprise within the enterprise.”
Exa Enterprise is an integrated enterprise imaging solution built with best of breed solutions with strategic partners that is proven to scale in high-volume enterprise healthcare systems.
Together, the two companies are solving the old problems that held best of breed back. Rather than disconnected silos or costly custom integrations, the combined solution provides:
● A unified enterprise platform that spans radiology, cardiology, and beyond, ensuring clinicians have access to a complete, longitudinal imaging record.
● Specialized cardiovascular depth with ASCEND’s workflows tailored for invasive, non-invasive, adult, and pediatric cardiology.
● Enterprise-grade scalability and support so organizations don’t have to choose between breadth and depth.
As ASCEND Cardiovascular CEO Dr. Jeffrey Soble has put it, “Cardiology is an enterprise within the enterprise.” By partnering with Konica Minolta, ASCEND ensures that specialized cardiology needs are met within a fully integrated enterprise ecosystem. The result is a complete imaging solution that empowers cardiovascular teams without forcing organizations to compromise on interoperability, efficiency, or clinical excellence.
This partnership demonstrates that best of breed isn’t about fragmentation anymore, it’s about creating connected ecosystems where specialized tools thrive within broader enterprise strategies. For healthcare organizations, it means cardiology finally has a seat at the table in enterprise imaging.
Looking Ahead
Best of breed doesn’t have to mean fragmented. In cardiology, it can mean precision, depth, and enterprise-ready integration – the best of both worlds.
By partnering with organizations like Konica Minolta, ASCEND is proving that best of breed can finally deliver on its original promise: empowering cardiology teams with the tools they need, without the IT trade-offs of the past.
