"The Healthy Heart CT scan is highly recommended for all men between the ages of 40 and 65, and women between the ages of 45 and 70."I heard this advertised on the radio today: it's one of the cheapest prices I'm aware for a CT scan to detect coronary calcium - what a !...
... at least until they find a fleck of calcium. Then, after you've basked in a fair amount of radiation, you're in for more fun as you ask, "My score isn't zero? What does that mean?"
- Cardiology Consult - $250
- echocardiogram - $600
- nuclear stress test - $1200
- Finding out it's a false positive: priceless.
Such promotion, demonstrates little effort by hospital marketing departments to risk stratify patients as has been by the very trade groups that promote such screenings. The wanton screening of asymptomatic individuals without risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) is not advised by the American College of Cardiology's recent :
The consensus of the Committee was that the body of evidence is supportive of recommendations from the USPSTF that unselected screening is of limited clinical value in patients who are at low risk for CHD events, typically estimated using a low FRS less than 1.0% per year (see ).When doctors and the industry advocates sit back and permit (or even promote) these mass screenings, they lose "street credibility." Oh sure, they'll make more money in the short term, but the long term effects to our profession as people understand the real motivation for this behavior is utimately damaging.
-Wes