Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Apr;6(4):515-22.
doi: 10.1016/j.jcmg.2012.10.026.

Temporal trends in the utilization of echocardiography in Ontario, 2001 to 2009

Saul Blecker  1 , R Sacha Bhatia, John J You, Douglas S Lee, David A Alter, Julie T Wang, Hannah J Wong, Jack V Tu
Affiliations

Temporal trends in the utilization of echocardiography in Ontario, 2001 to 2009

Saul Blecker et al. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging. 2013 Apr.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine utilization and growth in echocardiography among the general population of Ontario between 2001 and 2009. The age- and sex-adjusted rates of echocardiography grew from 39.1 per 1,000 persons in 2001 to 59.9 per 1,000 persons in 2009, for an annual rate of increase of 5.5%. Repeat echocardiograms increased at a rate of 10.6% per year and accounted for 25.3% of all procedures in 2009 as compared to 18.5% in 2002. While significant increases in echocardiography utilization were observed, opportunities may exist to improve the clinical utility of the echocardiograms performed in Ontario.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Age and gender adjusted rate of echocardiograms per 1,000 persons.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Annual change in relative rate of echocardiogram and repeat echocardiogram as compared to 2002, adjusted for age and gender.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Iglehart JK. Health insurers and medical-imaging policy--a work in progress. N Engl J Med. 2009;360:1030–7. - PubMed
    1. Alter DA, Stukel TA, Newman A. Proliferation of cardiac technology in Canada: a challenge to the sustainability of Medicare. Circulation. 2006;113:380–7. - PubMed
    1. Chan B, Cox JL, Anderson G. Trends in the utilization of noninvasive cardiac diagnostic tests in Ontario from fiscal year 1989/90 to 1992/93. Can J Cardiol. 1996;12:237–48. - PubMed
    1. Maitino AJ, Levin DC, Parker L, Rao VM, Sunshine JH. Nationwide trends in rates of utilization of noninvasive diagnostic imaging among the Medicare population between 1993 and 1999. Radiology. 2003;227:113–7. - PubMed
    1. Pearlman AS, Ryan T, Picard MH, Douglas PS. Evolving trends in the use of echocardiography: a study of Medicare beneficiaries. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007;49:2283–91. - PubMed

Publication types