Noninvasive cardiac imaging tests lead to lower downstream costs

Noninvasive cardiac imaging tests lead to reduced downstream costs, and stress echocardiography may be the go-to modality with this in mind, according to Canadian research published November 14 in the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. A team led by Idan Roifman MD, from the University of Toronto found that stress echocardiography led to an 18% reduction in costs, while cardiac CT angiography (CCTA) and myocardial perfusion imaging led to the highest downstream costs. “These findings may help inform testing decisions in chest pain patients,” Roifman and colleagues wrote. Previous reports indicate that non-invasive cardiac diagnostic tests for diagnosing coronary artery disease cost more than $3 billion annually in the U.S. alone. This finding has led to healthcare organizations evaluating their practices over concerns of overuse. The researchers noted that this makes cost comparisons for different noninvasive testing strategies important for healthcare planning. Roifman et al sought to do just that, using population-based administrative and clinical data to compare downstream costs between four available noninvasive testing strategies among patients presenting with chest pain. These included stress echocardiography, CCTA, myocardial perfusion imaging, and exercise stress testing. The researchers included data from 481,170 patients who received one of these tests. Among these, 254,492 (53%) received an exercise stress test; 154,137 (32%) received m...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - Category: Radiology Authors: Tags: Ultrasound Source Type: news