Survey reveals that cardiologists are seeing more patients than ever before

The healthcare crisis that has affected millions of Americans has hit the nation's cardiologists as well, according to a new survey: they are seeing more patients than ever and performing more tests on those patients. But they are being reimbursed less for those services by Medicare and insurance firms, in what one cardiologist called "a revenue roller coaster of uncertainty," even as their costs continue to increase steadily.

The results come from a survey conducted earlier this year by MedAxiom, a comprehensive subscription-based service provider, information and networking resource exclusively for cardiology practices, and is being released in conjunction with MedAxiom's Fall Conference, being held here this week.

The survey provides quantifiable evidence that as Americans grow older, they are relying more on medical specialists to meet their healthcare needs. For instance, cardiologists surveyed by MedAxiom reported a 12 percent jump in the number of office visits by patients last year, continuing an upward trend of the past several years. Perhaps more importantly, those patients continue to rely on their cardiologists: the MedAxiom survey reveals a 34 percent increase in return visits since the start of the decade.

Other key results from the survey illustrate the extent to which America's cardiologists have incorporated technology in their practices in an effort to further improve the quality of their delivered healthcare. The survey found that cardiologists performed an average of at least one echocardiography test, in which ultrasound is used to examine the heart, per day in 2008. That is a year-over-year increase of 15 percent, and an increase of 43 percent from the number performed just five years ago. At the same time, cardiologists performed an average of more than two electrocardiograms (EKGs) per day last year, up by almost half from 2004.

"We are seeing more people than ever before who need the specialty and quality of care that cardiologists are capable of providing," said Jennifer Linville, MedAxiom's Chief Executive Officer. "We believe that number will continue to increase, placing greater pressure on cardiologists to be even more efficient than they are today, which will require the continued use of advanced technology to diagnose and treat heart diseases."

Like all healthcare professionals, however, Linville noted that cardiologists responding to the MedAxiom survey are facing increasing financial pressures in their practices. The average cardiologist, according to the survey, spent more than $710,000 in 2008 on practice overhead, an all-time high. As a result, they are beginning to implement additional electronic health record (EHR) technology that helps them process paperwork more effectively, so they can submit it to insurance firms for faster payment. She also said that reduced payments and higher scrutiny from Medicare and the insurance firms are a chief source of concern. "While we agree with keeping healthcare costs as affordable as possible," Linville said, "our members are concerned that slashing reimbursement rates and denying services solely because of the cost may end up hurting more Americans than benefiting them." She said that MedAxiom provides a series of services to its members, allowing them to benchmark their practices' performance against those of others in a continuing effort to serve their patients more efficiently.