Study Shows that Some Heart Doctors Put Profits Before Patients

Today a report was released that showed that many heart doctors, or cardiologists, are not following the treatment guidelines recommended for treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). The guidelines, published by the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association, recommend that in some cases, coronary artery bypass surgery should be done instead of angioplasty.



Bypass surgery, however, is a time intensive and complicated process. Some procedures can take all day. Angioplasty, on the other hand, is a relatively minor procedure, so cardiologists can perform--and bill for--multiple procedures in a single day.

It is much more lucrative for a cardiologist to do six or seven angioplasties in one day than it is to do a surgical bypass. This decision is made purely out of profit, and is contrary to professional medical standards.

To be fair, the demand for profits may not come from the doctors themselves. Rather, it may be that the corporations that run the hospitals where the procedures are performed are placing higher volume demands upon the physicians, in exchange for granting doctors hospital privileges.

Either way, however, cardiologists may be rendering substandard care to patients in order to make money, rather than to make quality health care decisions.