Exam Details - CT Cardiac Calcium Scoring
Available at:
DC, Sterling and Chevy Chase
Used To:
Produce pictures of the coronary arteries
Why:
To determine if coronary arteries are blocked or narrowed by the buildup of plaque to evaluate increased risk for heart attack.
How:
Considered a non-invasive test. It is CT scan of the chest, in conjunction with electrodes (small sticky discs) to obtain the presence, location and extent of any calcified plaque in the coronary arteries.
Script:
"This exam cannot be performed if your heart rate is over 75 BPM. Please refrain from caffeine and exercise the day of your appointment. If you think your resting heart rate might be over 75 BPM, contact your referring physician to see if medication to control your heart rate is appropriate. If your heart rate is over 75 BPM at the time of your exam, you will be rescheduled."
NOTE: Heart rate cannot be over 75 BPM at the time of the exam because the CT machine cannot turn fast enough to image a heart beating faster than 75 BPM. Washington Radiology CANNOT give medication to lower the heart rate. ONLY a patients referring physician can prescribe this medication. Patients who are prescribed this medication must bring it with them on the day of their exam and inform the nurses so they can advise when the medication should be taken.
Important (NEW 11/22/23):
All CCS exams have to be scheduled individually with the payor as Self Pay, unless the patient has traditional Medicare. If the patient has traditional Medicare, please capture their insurance information for this exam. If patient has other appointments for the same day, they can have the insurance information listed for all other exams.
Script regarding billing:
"Your insurance company will not be billed for this exam. It is our policy to charge a self-pay rate of $250 due at the time of service."
We do not see patients under the age of 16 for this exam type.
EDITED: 11/22/2023
