While several sessions at ACC.15 include discussions on appropriate use criteria (AUC), one session in particular, taking place today from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. in room 6D, will spotlight how AUC for stress testing are evolving into crucial tools for imaging clinicians. “The AUC were initially devised for the use of a variety of noninvasive imaging procedures. The more recent multimodality AUC now include a diversity of functional stress testing and anatomic procedures used for the evaluation of stable ischemic heart disease,” says Leslee J. Shaw, MD, co-chair of the session.

The session, “It's Not Just for PCI! Appropriate Use of Stress Testing” will kick off with an introduction from Shaw and fellow co-chair Martha Gulati, MD, MS, and will include five presentations with a question-and-answer period following each. Topics of discussion will include, “Use and Abuse of Stress Testing” by Stephen D. Wiviott, MD; “Prognostic Utility of Treadmill Test vs. Stress Imaging” by George A. Beller, MD; “Treadmill Test: Do the Non-ECG Variables Trump the ST-Segment” by Jerome L. Fleg, MD; “Stress Testing in Women: Gender Based Test Selection” by Leslee J. Shaw, MD; and “Coronary Microvascular Disease: Noninvasive/Invasive Testing” by Marcelo F. DiCarli, MD.

“The AUC are fundamental to patient-centered imaging by focusing on procedural utilization for patients who benefit clinically with the potential to improve the care of patients with appropriate indications,” says Shaw. “Moreover, we can achieve dramatic efficiency in costs of imaging by reducing rarely appropriate testing rates. The AUC are scheduled to be a mandatory part of test use by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in 2017. Over the next few years, we will see the AUC grow in terms of applications as well as integration into clinical decision support to effectively guide clinical decision making and optimal test selection patterns for a large sector of patients at risk for coronary artery disease.”

Keywords: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Coronary Artery Disease, Electrocardiography, Female, Medicare, Myocardial Ischemia, ACC Annual Scientific Session

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