Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2009 - (Page 25)

The biggest advantage of 320detector cT is its 16-cm anatomic coverage that can scan an entire organ, such as the heart, in a single gantry rotation, thus minimizing artifacts and allowing lowerdose imaging. n Greater Coverage. As noted earlier, the 16 cm coverage and the ability to take multiple acquisitions to obtain real-time organ perfusion is unprecedented in CT. n Lower Costs, Improved Workﬂow. In the workup of certain types of chest pain patients, the dynamic volume CT scan can lower costs through faster, more accurate diagnosis and help replace several diagnostic tests with a single exam. When used correctly, we have seen this advanced technology reduce exam time and hospital stays for patients, and reduce contrast and radiation dose, all of which can help lower costs and improve workflow. In step with healthcare policy changes This technology is ideal for inpatient settings such as community hospitals, emergency rooms and other high-volume settings. We have 6 million patients a year showing up to emergency departments in the U.S. with chest pain at a diagnostic cost of $12 to $14 billion. A patient presenting with chest pain can currently take several hours to diagnose and would undergo several exams with varying levels of radiation. This same patient could be diagnosed with dynamic volume CT in a matter of minutes and sent home if healthy or treated immediately if ill. Right now, 80 percent of people admitted to a hospital for chest pain do not have coronary artery disease as the cause. That accounts for massive costs to the healthcare system that potentially could be saved. Not only is the current workup of chest pain problematic, but healthcare policy changes and cost-cutting measures are underway that make this technology even more important. New policies such as “present on admission” (POA), in which hospitals are paid only based on the diagnosis made on admission, will drive utilization of advanced CT. There also is increasing pressure to use benchmark standards in which hospitals will be fined if they do not meet a number of diagnostic, treatment and efficiency stan- dards. This will help put CT at the center point of the diagnostic workup. The bottom line is that we are going to have to change our workflow and clinical care pathways. We will have to make our diagnosis up front, quickly and accurately and make our triage and treatment decisions more efficiently. Again, it is our experience so far that dynamic volume CT will have a dramatic impact in this area. Although the studies are small, they all look very promising for cardiac CT to reduce ED wait times and costs for the workup of chest pain. Another ED study (CT-STAT) has just been completed and we are awaiting these results. In addition, researchers at Johns Hopkins and other universities are studying the ability of dynamic volume CT to look at myocardial perfusion (CorE 320). This is potentially game changing as it would allow us to look at how a particular stenosis impacts blood flow to the heart muscle with one test that takes less than 10 minutes and delivers low radiation doses. It has been my experience that patient outcomes, workf low and bottom line profits were improved with the use of 320-detector dynamic volume CT. Much of the improvement in the bottom line is seen in the cost reductions from using this technology versus other cardiovascular diagnostic technologies. Cardiac diagnosis time is being reduced from hours and days to mere minutes, which results in shorter emergency department times and shorter hospital stays. The technology is helping to lower radiation and contrast dose, making diagnostic imaging safer for the patient. It also is improving workf low and lowering costs by replacing several exams with this single exam, as well as empowering physicians to make a diagnosis faster and more confidently than before. CardiovascularBusiness.com Cardiovascular Business 25 http://www.CardiovascularBusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2009

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2009 Contents First Word Electrophysiology Roundtable Forum: A Candid Conversation about Profits, Procedures and Patients Heart Failure Care Gets Boost from Technology Emerging Technologies in Peripheral Vascular Interventions Stent vs. Graft: Choosing the Best Path for the Diabetic Patient with Multivessel Disease Cardiology Groups and Hospitals Strive to ‘Connect’ Seamlessly CT Beyond 64 Slices Clinical Study Digest: Kidney Disease & PCI; Women and Valve Disease Compact Echo Systems Come Up Big in Cardiac Care News & Views Reader Resources The ACC Corner

Cardiovascular Business - January/February 2009

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