CMS broadens defibrillator query
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Agency is gathering further evidence on the necessity of threshold-testing at the time of implantation. The second round of comments will inform CMS' review of appropriate ICD use, the agency notes June 23. CMS also is seeking evidence on the risks and benefits of adding anti-tachycardia pacing to ICD functions. Considerations include the risk of an additional lead and whether justification exists for developing a patient registry "to collect information to better identify predictors of ICD firing for ventricular fibrillation as a proxy for sudden cardiac death." Commenters should base answers on published literature rather than clinical practice...