In a startling break with tradition, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) will manage and run their own clinical trials testing expanded uses for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The two medical groups have recently been granted an investigational device exemption (IDE) by the FDA for one such…

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A recent rash of lawsuits and physician suspensions for “unnecessary PCI” have given many interventionalists pause. Rick Lange and David Hillis ponder the implications of these incidents on clinical practice.

In 2006, Reed Abelson in the New York Times reported that the PCI rate in Elyria, Ohio, was four times the national average. Now, six-and-a-half years later, she reports that the local hospital, EMH Regional Medical Center, has agreed to pay $3.9 million to settle accusations that it billed Medicare for unnecessary PCIs. And the local cardiology group, North Ohio Heart Center, has agreed…

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In patients with acute MI, utilization of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is lower in states that publicly report outcomes data, according to a new study published in JAMA. Despite the difference in utilization, however, there was no difference in mortality between reporting and nonreporting states. Karen Joynt and colleagues used Medicare data to analyze PCI utilization…

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Hospitals across the country received emails from the U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday containing a proposed “Resolution Model” that will allow the hospitals to begin to settle the long-standing and much-feared DOJ investigation into improper Medicare billing for ICDs. The action appears to confirm an article, published earlier in August in Report on Medicare Compliance, that summarized the…

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A new study of mortality and other trends among Medicare patients who undergo mitral valve surgery may influence whom you choose to refer for this type of procedure.

Larry Husten takes to task a conservative activist who is trying to inject politics where it’s neither needed nor wanted.

The number of observation stays are growing in this country, in part as a response to Medicare audits that are disallowing admissions for some patients – and maybe in part to reduce crowding in the Emergency Medicine Department. The problem is that criteria are not clear, so there is likely a lot of variability across…

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On Thursday the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo containing details of its proposed Medicare coverage for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). The memo is a response to a formal request for national coverage determination (NCD) from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). The memo will be open…

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More evidence is starting to emerge that the overall volume of cardiovascular procedures in U.S. hospitals is in decline. The trend should come as no surprise to those who have been following news about cardiovascular medicine in recent years, as the field has been repeatedly struck by debate, scandal, and controversy related to the potential…

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