Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB: CAMH), today announced that effective July 1, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will allow full reimbursement for both a Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) test and a stress test when both tests are performed during the same patient visit. The CMS update removes a previous restriction that substantially limited reimbursement when a patient underwent an MTWA test on the same day as the patient underwent a standard cardiac stress test, echocardiography stress test, nuclear cardiac stress test, or pulmonary stress test.
“We believe that this change, coupled with the upcoming availability of our MTWA OEM Module, will provide physicians and their patients greater access to our valuable technology.”
The non-invasive MTWA test measures small heartbeat irregularities that indicate a patient's heightened risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). SCA kills more than 300,000 people in the U.S. each year.
The reimbursement modification allows physicians, for appropriate patients, to provide a more comprehensive cardiac assessment during a single patient visit by adding a measure of SCA risk to the traditional stress work-up and receive full reimbursement for both tests.
"We have been working on this initiative for quite some time and are pleased that these restrictions have been removed," said Ali Haghighi-Mood President and CEO of Cambridge Heart Inc. "We believe that this change, coupled with the upcoming availability of our MTWA OEM Module, will provide physicians and their patients greater access to our valuable technology."
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