Four Blue Cross Shield companies have issued positive medical policies for the HeartFlows FFRct Analysis. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Blue Cross of Idaho and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City have each issued a positive medical policy for the technology.
HeartFlow FFRct Analysis is a noninvasive technology designed to help clinicians diagnose and treat patients with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Each of the four health plans assessed the system for technical performance, diagnostic accuracy, clinical utility and clinical benefits of the system.
John H Stevens, chief executive officer of HeartFlow, says, “Together with the American Medical Association’s decision to issue a set of Category III CPT codes for HeartFlow FFRct Analysis, we are seeing increasing acceptance and adoption of our non-invasive technology by clinicians and top medical centres throughout the USA and around the world.”
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state’s oldest and largest health insurer, manages the health insurance needs of approximately 3.8 million people in New Jersey. Blue Cross Blue Shield Arizona provides health insurance for 695,000 people. Blue Cross of Idaho, with approximately one quarter of the state’s population enrolled in its programs, covers an estimated 500,000 individuals. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health insurance to approximately 500,000 individuals.
Several other payers have also issued positive coverage decisions, including Aetna, which covers more than 23 million people. In June, Evidence Street, which provides healthcare technology evaluations for the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, a national federation of 36 independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies that collectively provide healthcare coverage for 105 million Americans, issued a review supporting the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis and indicating an expected improvement in net health outcomes.
Earlier this year, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence of the UK’s National Health Service, which covers 59 million people, issued positive guidance, recommending the HeartFlow FFRct Analysis to help determine the cause of stable chest pain.
Additionally, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and American Heart Association (AHA) recently released updated “Appropriate Use Criteria for Coronary Revascularization in Patients with Stable Ischemic Heart Disease”, which include the use of HeartFlow FFRct Analysis in determining the appropriateness of revascularization in many clinical scenarios.
