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Heart Scan Combined with AI Helps Prevent Heart Disease

Dr. Larry Antonucci's Blog Posts

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Imagine being able to know whether plaque is building up in the arteries of your heart that could one day lead to a heart attack. At the Lee Health Heart Institute, the HeartHealth program provides a comprehensive evaluation of atherosclerotic plaque in the coronary arteries (that supply the heart) and helps guide providers in preventing heart disease.

Using well-established coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) combined with artificial intelligence (AI) software, expert cardiologists and radiologists look for early disease, particularly plaque in the arteries that increase the risk for heart attacks and stroke. The AI software aids in the quantitative analysis and helps determine plaque characteristics.

“Following the CCTA, we provide a post-scan televisit with an experienced advanced provider who reviews the results and offers individualized recommendations based on a published treatment algorithm,” explained Rachel Roedding, DNP, FNP-BC, APRN, HeartHealth program manager. “These recommendations are forwarded to your primary care provider so you can discuss and decide on a treatment plan with your doctor. Our goal is to provide you with the necessary tools to inspire medical self-awareness and become an advocate for your health.”

The Lee Health System has been offering this as a free benefit to qualifying employees for several years. The HeartHealth program is offered to non-employees as a self-pay service, as it is not yet covered by most insurance.

Included in the cost of the program are the CCTA scan with traditional interpretation from a radiologist and/or cardiologist, analysis of the AI report and a post-scan televisit to discuss results and treatment recommendations. A copy of the AI report is also emailed to the patient after the televisit. The scans are performed at several Lee Health locations, with the majority done at Lee Health Coconut Point (23450 Via Coconut Point) in Estero. 

While there are no specific criteria to qualify for the self-pay program, you may not be a candidate for the scan if you have had prior cardiac stents or bypass surgery, are pregnant, have significant kidney disease or have an allergy to IV contrast. If you are interested in taking advantage of the HeartHealth program, you can ask your primary care provider to write a script for ‘CTA Coronary with Cleerly AI Analysis.’  The script needs to be faxed to 239-343-4021. Once received, you will be contacted by the Lee Health team to schedule an appointment.

The HeartHealth program provides an understanding and awareness of your present-day heart disease risk and allows you to partner with your healthcare provider to make adjustments to your lifestyle in order to reduce your risk of heart disease, heart attacks and stroke.

Lee Health was the first hospital system in Florida to provide this program to better help prevent heart disease. The cardiologists and radiologists at Lee Health have the most experience utilizing this technology of anyone in our region. 

If you have any questions about the scan or your eligibility, please email [email protected] to connect with a member of the HeartHealth team. You can also visit www.tinyurl.com/LeeHealthHeartHealth to watch a short video and hear from Richard Chazal, M.D., medical director, Lee Health Heart Institute, as he talks about advances in cardiovascular care and imaging, which is opening new doors for prevention.

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