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Survey results reveal changing practice patterns in nuclear cardiology
Results of a new survey on nuclear cardiology practices reveal changing patterns indicating increased focus on cost containment and patient safety.
The survey was sent to American Society of Nuclear Cardiology member at random nuclear cardiology practices in the United States. The overall cohort focused on 73 imaging laboratories representing 202 physicians and 177 technologists.
Compared with results of a similar survey conducted in 2001, the researchers found that nuclear cardiology laboratories are increasingly found in hospitals rather than as stand-alone facilities. They also found a decrease in the use of higher-dose dual isotope imaging protocols, from 72% in 2001 to 15.6% in 2011, which may be attributed to efforts to reduce radiation exposure for patient safety, according to a press release.
Peter Tilkemeier
Results also highlighted that 61% of practices use the American College of Cardiology’s Appropriate Use Criteria for radionuclide imaging for image interpretation and final report. Only 32% of laboratories reported providing guidance on post-test therapeutic management in their final report. Most laboratories (89%) reported performing correlations between nuclear cardiology results and invasive coronary angiography. Just 33% of practice reported implementing some form of radiation dose tracking, according to the release.
The results were recently published online in the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology.
“Many factors are currently affecting the practice of nuclear cardiology in this country, including dramatic reductions in reimbursement, increased regulations and an explosive growth of at-risk patients, such as obese individuals and those with diabetes,” Peter Tilkemeier, MD, interim director of cardiology at Rhode Island and The Miriam Hospital, stated in the release.
He said these data can “provide invaluable to target educational needs of nuclear cardiologists and radiologists and also inform health care policy of contemporary nuclear cardiology practice.”
Further, Tilkemeier said there is still room for improvement. “Specifically, practices should develop programs to promote increased use of lower-dose stress-only and stress-first protocols and also limit use of dual isotope imaging involving thallium.”