Atlanta-based Piedmont Heart Institute makes deal to expand

The Atlanta-based Piedmont Heart Institute announced it has acquired another group of heart specialists, Cardiac Disease Specialists, and that its doctors will become PHI employees by July 1. Cardiac Disease Specialists became the third major cardiovascular physician group to join the Piedmont Heart Institute, making PHI Physicians one of the largest cardiovascular specialist groups in the Southeast. Terms of the arrangement were not disclosed, but PHI purchased CDS' hard assets, including nuclear cameras, echo machines and diagnostic test equipment, said PHI representatives.