Episode 7: Underuse In Cardiology Is Under-Appreciated. How Do We Change That?

Underuse of evidence-based care is rampant in cardiology, with serious impacts on patient outcomes and costs. Yet, it gets much less attention, and prior authorization programs are blind to underuse. They deal only with services that have been requested, not those that have been omitted. This episode of Leading Causes explores examples of underuse, the reasons that high-value services are not used more frequently in cardiovascular care, and strategies to improve appropriate delivery of care. NCH Senior Medical Director of Cardiology, Dr. Fernando Villacian, is joined by Dr. Nihar Desai, Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief of the Section of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine, and Medical Director for Value Innovation at the Yale New Haven Health System, and Dr. Ileana Piña, Clinical Professor at Central Michigan University and past chair of the American Heart Association’s Council on Clinical Cardiology.