The German Roentgen Society (DRG) has issued tools to support the introduction of coronary CT angiography (CCTA) into standard care for diagnosing coronary heart disease.
“The inclusion of CCTA in the Uniform Assessment Standard represents a significant step,” the DRG's Heart and Vascular Diagnostics Working Group noted in a statement. “Radiology, as a specialist discipline subject to referral, has the central task of objectively improving the diagnosis of the widespread disease, coronary heart disease (CHD).”
While the remuneration for CCTA set by the Extended Assessment Committee is unexpectedly low, radiology must accept and fulfill the central role assigned to it in the management of care for CHD -- the number one cause of death in Germany -- the group said.
To that end, the team has put together various support materials for DRG members, which can be found online and include the following:
- A CCTA report template for the efficient creation of a document that meets the presumed quality assurance requirements.
- A learning app that enables the calculation of the pretest probability in accordance with NVL 7.
- The InstaRAD intensive course on CONRAD for continuous and free training, especially for new centers.
The topic will be discussed in detail on 11 February from 6 pm to 7 pm CET in the online format “Asked@DRG,” the group noted.
