Healthcare Industry News: echocardiography
News Release - July 1, 2010
Cambridge Heart Announces Medicare Reimbursement Update for Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Test
CMS Removes Limitations on MTWA ReimbursementTEWKSBURY, Mass.--(HSMN NewsFeed)--Cambridge Heart, Inc. (OTCBB: CAMH ), today announced that effective July 1, 2010, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will allow full reimbursement for both a Microvolt T-Wave Alternans (MTWA) test and a stress test when both tests are performed during the same patient visit. The CMS update removes a previous restriction that substantially limited reimbursement when a patient underwent an MTWA test on the same day as the patient underwent a standard cardiac stress test, echocardiography stress test, nuclear cardiac stress test, or pulmonary stress test.
The non-invasive MTWA test measures small heartbeat irregularities that indicate a patient’s heightened risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). SCA kills more than 300,000 people in the U.S. each year.
The reimbursement modification allows physicians, for appropriate patients, to provide a more comprehensive cardiac assessment during a single patient visit by adding a measure of SCA risk to the traditional stress work-up and receive full reimbursement for both tests.
“We have been working on this initiative for quite some time and are pleased that these restrictions have been removed,” said Ali Haghighi-Mood President and CEO of Cambridge Heart Inc. “We believe that this change, coupled with the upcoming availability of our MTWA OEM Module, will provide physicians and their patients greater access to our valuable technology.”
About Cambridge Heart, Inc.
Cambridge Heart develops and commercializes non-invasive diagnostic tests for cardiac disease, with a focus on identifying those at risk for sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). The Company’s products incorporate proprietary Microvolt T-Wave Alternans™ measurement technologies, including the patented Analytic Spectral Method® and ultrasensitive disposable electrode sensors. The Company’s MTWA test, originally based on research conducted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is reimbursed by Medicare under its National Coverage Policy.
Cambridge Heart, founded in 1990, is based in Tewksbury, MA. It is traded on the Over-The-Counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB) under the symbol CAMH.OB.
http://www.cambridgeheart.com.
Statements contained in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases, we use words such as “believes”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “plans”, “estimates”, “could”, and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about the Company’s expected launch of the MTWA Module, the Company’s expected reductions in operating expenses, and the Company’s belief that existing resources and currently projected financial results are sufficient to fund operations through December 31, 2010. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements. Material deviations from our current operating plan, including a delay in launching the MTWA Module with Cardiac Science, lower than expected sales to Cardiac Science, lower than expected sales of our Heartwave II System, may cause or contribute to such differences. Other factors that may cause or contribute to such differences include failure to achieve broad market acceptance of the Company’s MTWA technology, failure of our sales and marketing organization to market our products effectively, inability to hire and retain qualified clinical applications specialists in the Company's target markets, failure to obtain or maintain adequate levels of first-party reimbursement for use of the Company's MTWA test, customer delays in making final buying decisions, decreased demand for the Company's products, failure to obtain funding necessary to develop or enhance our technology, adverse results in future clinical studies of our technology, failure to obtain or maintain patent protection for our technology and other factors identified in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K under “Risk Factors”, which is on file with the SEC and available at www.EDGAR.com. In addition, any forward-looking statements represent our estimates only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we specifically disclaim any obligation to do so except as may be legally necessary, even if our estimates should change.
Source: Cambridge Heart
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