The Cost-Benefit Calculus of CT Angiograms

Host: Janet Wright, MD Guest: Mark Hlatky, MD Measuring precise risks in medicine can be a tricky proposition. Factoring risk into cost-benefit analyses can make the situation even less clear. In many ways, this is where we stand with coronary computed tomography angiograms: a scan can be immediately helpful in emergent circumstances, but at other points in the clinical care spectrum, the value of that scan is more difficult to estimate. Dr. Mark Hlatky, professor of medicine and professor of health research and policy at Stanford University School of Medicine, juxtaposes the medical aspects of these tests with the money we spend on them. Dr. Janet Wright hosts.