Physicians who billed for both technical and professional fees more frequently ordered cardiac stress tests for patients who underwent revascularization compared with physicians who only interpreted the tests or with physicians who didnt bill for any part of the tests, based on a study published Nov. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The truism if you provide a service, youre more likely to provide a service apparently hasnt changed over the years, authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, noting that recent regulation may be changing utilization practices.

Three prominent cardiovascular researchers have teamed up to provide what they say will be a more efficient IT-based process for moving cardiovascular devices through the investigational process. The partnership will combine clinical and analytical expertise with core laboratory firepower to give sponsors a streamlined, high-quality product that better meets regulatory demands, one of the directors, Jeffrey J. Popma, MD, said in an exclusive interview.

Edwards Lifesciences, a developer of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, reported an increase in net income and sales for the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30.

A new technique that applies fluid dynamics theories to datasets from noninvasive coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) to quantify fractional flow reserve (FFR) showed good correlation with FFR while proving more accurate than CCTA for detecting ischemia-causing coronary lesions, according to a study published Nov. 1 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  The feasibility of obtaining detailed functional information from anatomic datasets deserves further exploration, possibly beyond CCTA, recommended an editorialist.

The global electrophysiology device market, valued at $1.1 billion in 2010, is set to expand 6 percent, to reach $1.6 billion by 2017, according to an October report released by GlobalData, an industry analysis firm. The company said that the growing number of patients diagnosed with arrhythmias and the adoption of newer, robotic and magnetic navigation systems and drugs to treat atrial fibrillation will likely be the driver of this market growth.

Lantheus Medical Imaging and Premier Purchasing Partners have signed a three-year supplier contract for the Definity cardiac ultrasound contrast agent and Ablavar MR angiography blood pool imaging agent.

Dueling articles in the November issue of Radiology tackled the touchy topic of extracardiac findings on cardiac CT exams, debating whether to reconstruct and review studies at the maximum field of view (FOV) or to limit interpretation to a restricted FOV.

Interventional cardiology may face an upward of 32 percent slash to reimbursement beginning Jan. 1, 2012, due to the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. In fact, payments for stent placements are set to decline nearly 4 percent. In the current realm of reimbursement ambiguity and healthcare reform, how will administrators keep their cath lab revenues from fading?