Cardiology Case Study

Variation in the use of diagnostic procedures is believed to be associated with decreased quality and increased costs. One procedure experiencing higher levels of utilization growth is myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), which has increased by 23 percent annually. Professional organizations have proposed criteria and appropriateness criteria to aid providers in MPI use, but the results and physician acceptance of MPI criteria have not previously been reported until now.*

In 2006, CareCore Cardiology developed and implemented clinical algorithm for cardiac imaging modalities for a client. The implementation of CareCore Cardiology algorithm for MPI resulted in a significant decline in requests as well as a significant reduction in unnecessary studies. With the high cost of MPI, CareCore Cardiology's algorithm-based management program achieved substantial health care savings.

*CareCore Cardiology's study of the effect of criteria on utilization of myocardial perfusion imaging was presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Session in 2006.