What You Should Know:
– In a significant step towards improving cardiovascular care, several Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) have granted coverage for Cleerly’s AI-enabled Quantitative Coronary Topography (AI-QCT) scans.
– The decision expands access to Cleerly’s potentially life-saving technology for Medicare beneficiaries at risk of heart attacks.
Expanding Access to Innovative Cardiac Care
Cleerly, a company dedicated to eradicating heart attacks, sought MAC coverage in February 2023 to make its AI-powered analysis more accessible to Medicare recipients. This approval, effective November 24, 2024, will cover approximately 34 million Medicare beneficiaries under the Palmetto GBA, CGS Administrators, National Government Services (NGS), and WPS administrative groups.
Improved Diagnosis and Treatment of CAD
The new Medicare coverage will include Cleerly Labs Plaque Analysis for patients with:
- Acute or stable chest pain with no known CAD.
- CAD-RADS 1-3 (a scoring system for assessing coronary artery stenosis).
This expanded coverage will enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis of CAD, leading to timely interventions and improved patient outcomes.
Cleerly’s AI-QCT Technology: A New Standard in Cardiac Assessment
Cleerly’s AI-QCT technology, Cleerly Labs, provides a comprehensive and standardized assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD) based on a noninvasive Cardiac Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA) scan. This AI-powered analysis offers several advantages:
- Accuracy: Demonstrated high accuracy in identifying and characterizing coronary plaque.
- Standardization: Provides objective and reproducible results, reducing variability in interpretation.
- Efficiency: Offers a faster and more efficient assessment compared to traditional methods.
“We applaud this decision by the MACs to extend coverage for AI-QCT. When we first requested a coverage decision for Cleerly Labs, our goal was to ensure at-risk patients had coverage for the most advanced cardiovascular testing technology that can most effectively guide clinical decision making,” said James K. Min, MD, Founder and CEO of Cleerly. “We are also extremely thankful to the many physicians and medical society partners who used their voices to advocate for this essential AI-QCT technology. Until Cleerly, healthcare providers have not had a way to easily and completely assess the primary cause of heart attacks, atherosclerotic plaque burden and type, in a noninvasive way, which is especially important for our senior population. This decision by the MACs represents a significant step in advancing the field of cardiology, and providing the best possible care for our seniors.”
