Measuring value from the patient's perspective.

With growing calls for scaling back medical spending in the United States, cardiac treatments in general, and revascularization procedures in particular, are receiving scrutiny. The American Heart Association estimates that in 2009, $93 billion in direct cost of care was attributed to ischemic heart disease in the United States.1 Much of this expense was due to an estimated 7 million cardiac procedures performed in the United States in 2006. These procedures include 1.3 million percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), and when coupled with a typical hospital charge of $45 000, it is clear that spending on PCI is a significant financial burden for the US healthcare system.