Stress Imaging Use and Repeat Revascularization Among Medicare Patients With High-Risk Coronary Artery Disease

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The optimal use of stress testing after coronary revascularization remains unclear, and over-utilization of stress testing may increase rates of repeat revascularization. We analyzed the relationship at both the patient and regional level between the use of stress testing and repeat revascularization for a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries receiving revascularization within 30 days of an admission for symptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD).The sample consisted of 219,748 Medicare beneficiaries older than 65 years who received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or cardiac bypass surgery (CABG) following hospital admission for symptomatic CAD in 2003–2004. Medicare claims data through 2008 identified the use of stress testing and repeat revascularization. Associations between the cumulative incidence of stress testing and repeat revascularization were analyzed using linear regressions. Within six years of initial revascularization, the cumulative incidence of events was 0.61 for stress testing and 0.23 for repeat revascularization. Most (53.1%) repeat revascularizations were preceded by a stress test. Only 10.3% of repeat revascularization procedures were preceded by myocardial infarction. Four-year cumulative incidence of repeat revascularization and stress testing varied between the Hospital Referral Regions represented by the sample, and the positive correlation between the rates by HRR accounted for only a small portion of the total HRR variation in revascularization rates. Stress testing is commonly performed among Medicare patients after initial revascularization, and the majority of repeat procedures are performed for stable CAD. Variation in stress testing patterns only explains a modest fraction of regional variation in repeat revascularization rates.

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