The linked article glosses over the distinction between teaching hospitals, which did show a difference, and nonteaching hospitals, which did not see a significant difference. At teaching hospitals, there are research cardiologists and administrative types (division chair, officers of national organizations, journal editors) in addition to plain old clinicians. Everybody has to do time "on-service" directing the care of hospitalized patients. Naturally, the chiefs and the lab rats have to attend the big meetings, so their on-service time is in other months of the year. During the meetings the clinical cardiologists are mostly left in charge, and their clinical skills are better maintained, leading to better outcomes. Note that these outcomes had to do with acute high-risk cases, not elective interventions, etc.
