Pediatric Appropriate Use Criteria Implementation Project

Pediatric appropriate use criteria for echocardiography: implications for clinical practice.

The first pediatric Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) were recently published by the American College of Cardiology. This document consists of common clinical scenarios for which a transthoracic echocardiogram is ordered in outpatient settings. Echocardiography is the most common imaging modality used in the outpatient setting to assess children with suspected heart disease. However, it is known t...

Appropriate Use Criteria.

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...

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 for stress single-photon emission computed tomography sestamibi studies: a quality improvement project.

BACKGROUND We previously reported the application of the 2005 American College of Cardiology Foundation appropriate use criteria for stress single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging to patients at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) in 2005 and 2006. A subsequent internal quality improvement project focused on physician education in an attempt to reduce the rate of inappropriate SPECT ...