title: Indications and reimbursement of cardiac computed tomography angiography: history, present and future perspectives.
abstract: To comment that cardiac computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is an exciting tool in the evaluation of coronary artery disease (CAD) is an understatement. As a new method, however, differing clinical and reimbursement guidelines exist to guide the use of the method, resulting in confusion among referring and interpreting physicians in whether CCTA is reasonably indicated and covered by an individual patient's payer. Such confusion has slowed the acceptance of CCTA within the medical community. Clinical and reimbursement guidelines related to CCTA indications, including those from public and private payers, are reviewed, summarized, and compared in text and table formats. The commonalities extant within medical society guidelines and gradually within the payer community allow the increasingly frequent use of CCTA for certain indications. Challenges to full-fledged acceptance of the technique based on guideline and payer policies are reviewed and are increasingly being overcome.
authors.affiliation: Section of Cardiac Imaging, Cardiovascular Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL 33331 USA. shenm@ccf.org
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: Gregory S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000191:economics*; D039702:Current Procedural Terminology; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D005544:Forecasting; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States