by
John R. Fischer, Senior Reporter | March 09, 2020
From the March 2020 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“It will no longer be necessary to perform diagnostic angiograms after the Ischemia trial,” said Alaswad. “Advances in CT and MR imaging will provide platforms for diagnostic procedures and interventional procedure planning and execution. Co-registration between CT and cath lab imaging is continuously improving to make complex procedures more successful and safer.”
Dr. Mahmud sees changes in the role of the cath lab as well, expecting it to be less of a diagnostic lab and more of an interventional room. “I think more interventions will be done in the cath lab, while increasingly, diagnostic exams will be done by CT angiography. I think structural heart cases done in the hybrid OR will almost all be moved to the cath lab. TAVR, in a lot of places in the country, is still done in a hybrid operating room. I see all of that being moved to the cath lab, and an increase in more peripheral endovascular interventions.”
He also expects overall cost of the procedure to decrease, due to CMS allowing cath labs to be stand-alone in ambulatory surgical settings, rather than just in hospitals. The protocol goes into effect in 2020.
“Hopefully we can also make PCI more easily available. In most major metropolitan areas, it’s not an issue, as most hospitals have cath labs and interventional programs,” he said. “Maybe in communities that are somewhat underserved it’s possible to make interventional care more available at a lower cost.”
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