Can Appropriate Use Criteria Lead to Appropriate Care?

Can appropriate use criteria lead to appropriate care?

T he rapid pace of technological development has brought a wealth of diagnostic and therapeutic options to the care of patients. These new diagnostic and therapeutic tools have dramatically altered medical care but have come with a steep price tag, and it is not clear that the improvement in the quality of care is proportional to the cost of the medical system. In recognition of the fact that t...

Appropriate Use Criteria.

Understanding appropriate use criteria in nuclear medicine.

There has been a significant increase in cardiac radionuclide imaging over the past decade, leading to a corresponding increase in scrutiny from Federal and private health plans questioning the necessity of these tests. In response to efforts by third-party payers to limit all types of cardiovascular imaging studies, the American College of Cardiology Foundation, in conjunction with other profe...

Appropriate use criteria to reduce underuse and overuse of revascularization.

1. Eindhoven JA, van den Bosch AE, Jansen PR, Boersma E, RoosHesselink JW. The usefulness of brain natriuretic peptide in complex congenital heart disease: a systematic review. J Am Coll Cardiol 2012;60: 2140–9. 2. Johns MC, Stephenson C. Amino-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide testing in neonatal and pediatric patients. Am J Cardiol 2008;101:76–81. 3. Clerico A, Emdin M. Diagnostic accur...

Applying appropriate-use criteria to cardiac revascularisation in India.

OBJECTIVES The high prevalence of coronary heart disease and dramatic growth of cardiac interventions in India motivate an evaluation of the appropriateness of coronary revascularisation procedures in India. Although, appropriate-use criteria (AUC) have been used to analyse the appropriateness of cardiovascular care in the USA, they are yet to be applied to care in India. In our study, we apply...