Strategies to Reduce Low-Value Cardiovascular Care

Published: February 22, 2022

Glass piggy bank with money and a red stethoscope twisted into a heart.
  • Low-value cardiovascular tests and procedures are among the most frequent low-value procedures performed. Common examples of low-value cardiovascular care include routine stress testing prior to low-risk surgery and inappropriate coronary stenting when the stent is not expected to relieve patient symptoms or improve outcomes.
  • This statement describes the scope of low-value care (including frequency, impact on patient outcomes, and cost), and covers methods to potentially reduce low-value cardiovascular healthcare (e.g., guideline-based diagnostic testing, percutaneous coronary intervention, arrhythmias, etc.)
  • Considerations to reduce low-value care based on current evidence, and directions for future research to reduce low-value care will be discussed.