The Society Testifies at AF Ablation Hearing On Wednesday, October 21, 2009 the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MedCAC) is holding Catheter Ablation for the Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation, a meeting to discuss the adequacy of the available evidence for the use of catheter ablative techniques to treat patients with atrial fibrillation.
About MEDCAC
MEDCAC was established to provide independent guidance and expert advice to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on specific clinical topics. MEDCAC reviews and evaluates medical literature, technology assessments, and examines data and information on the effectiveness and appropriateness of medical items and services that are covered under Medicare, or that may be eligible for coverage under Medicare. MEDCAC judges the strength of the available evidence and makes recommendations to CMS based on that evidence. |
When the meeting was originally announced, the notice included a request for public comments on the following voting questions:
- How confident are you that the evidence is adequate to draw conclusions about the health outcomes of interest to patients treated with catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation?
- How confident are you that catheter ablation for the treatment of atrial fibrillation improves health outcomes compared to other therapies or treatments in the following populations:
- As first-line therapy?
- As second-line therapy?
- For first detected atrial fibrillation?
- For long-standing (greater than one year) atrial fibrillation?
- For paroxysmal atrial fibrillation?
- For persistent atrial fibrillation?
- How confident are you that ablation improves long-term (greater than one year) health outcomes?
- How confident are you that the outcomes can be extrapolated to:
- Patients outside a controlled clinical study?
- The Medicare beneficiary population (age 65 years and older, 56 percent female)?
- How confident are you that additional evidence is needed?
Hugh Calkins, MD, FHRS is representing the Society’s point of view (on the voting questions) during the meeting’s public comment period and also addressed the questions from the panel. The Heart Rhythm Society also submitted comments (PDF, 286 K) on September 21, 2009 in response to these questions.
The Society plans to briefly review the recommendations made in the HRS/EHRA/ECAS Expert Consensus Statement on AF ablation, review the results of randomized clinical trials of AF ablation, as well as the results of the two meta-analyses of AF ablation, and to make a few concluding comments in its presentation to MEDCAC.
For more information about the meeting, visit the CMS website
