Accessed through the Hayes Knowledge Center, the Evidence Analysis Solution addresses the following fundamental questions to help our clients determine coverage positions:
Purpose of Technology: Patient-specific instruments (PSI) for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are custom-made bone-cutting guides for use during TKA surgical implantation that are manufactured for each patient based on analysis of presurgical magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography.
Controv…
Purpose of Technology: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a supraventricular, accelerated heart rhythm characterized by uncoordinated atrial activation that leads to inefficient, irregular atrial contraction. Surgical techniques for the treatment of AF can be broadly categorized into open heart procedures and minimally invasive pro…
Purpose of Technology: The purpose of indwelling pleural catheters (IPCs) is to allow for the intermittent drainage of accumulated fluid from the lungs that can occur as a complication of advanced malignancy, causing dyspnea, cough, and/or chest pain that lead to a decreased quality of life (QOL) and reduced functional ability.
Controversy: The main con…
Noninvasive fractional flow reserve deduced from computed tomography (FFRCT) involves computer-assisted processing of coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) images to estimate changes in blood pressure inside coronary arteries that have partial blockages, with the goal of determining how severely the blo…
Purpose of Technology: Invasive bone growth stimulators are fully implanted battery-operated devices that deliver electrical energy to bone sites to which cathodes are applied. They are intended to induce osteogenesis, stimulate bone growth, and promote healing in nonhealing…
Purpose of Technology: Noninvasive electrical bone growth stimulators (EBGS) are external devices that deliver electrical energy to a fracture or bone fusion site. The goal is to induce osteogenesis, stimulate bone growth, and promote healing of fresh, delayed, or nonunion bone fractures and surgical joint fusions.
Rationale: In 2010, there were 18.3 mi…
Purpose of Technology: Patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) overproduce partially mature, abnormal white blood cells of the myeloid lineage. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a procedure in which patients undergo high-dose chemotherapy and/or radiothera…
Purpose of Technology: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a supraventricular, accelerated heart rhythm characterized by uncoordinated atrial activation that leads to inefficient, irregular atrial contraction. Minimally invasive catheter ablation procedures, such as cryoablation (CA) and radiofrequency ablation (RFA), aim to relieve…
Purpose of Technology: Patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) have an overproduction of partially mature white blood cells of the myeloid lineage. High doses of chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy can destroy bone marrow producing the abnormal cells but normal cells are also affected. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem ce…
Purpose of Technology: Bronchial thermoplasty is a minimally invasive treatment that uses heat to reduce the smooth muscle in the lungs that constricts the airway during asthma attacks. This procedure is intended for treatment of severe, persistent asthma in patients who are age 18 years or older and who have asthma that has…