Technological advances in the management of cardiovascular diseases: perspective of physicians and administrators

Abstract

To the Editor, New technologies have improved the effectiveness of treatments for cardiovascular diseases, yet these technologies pose poorly explored challenges. Therefore, a study was conducted in Spain to find out about the perspective of doctors and administrators on the implications of technology in the management of coronary artery disease and peripheral arterial disease. The insights and perspectives of doctors and administrators were obtained using the Delphi method following the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method (RUAM).1 A scientific committee including 6 cardiologists, 1 vascular surgeon, and 1 interventional radiologist selected the panel of doctors (16 cardiologists, 3 endocrinologists, 3 vascular surgeons, 1 internist, and 1 surgeon specialized in diabetic foot disease), and administrators (12 administrators from both the public and private sectors) (annex 1 of the supplementary data). The doctors’ questionnaire had 112 items and the administrators’ one 79 (74 items were common to both panels). The panellists scored the relevance of each item on a scale from 1 (irrelevant) to 9 (maximum relevance). «Agreement» was defined as less than a third of the panelists giving scores from 1 to 3 to a given item, and less than a third gave scores from 7 to 9. «Low relevance» items were those whose median scores...