MEDCAC Meeting 7/22/2015 - Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease

Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC) Meetings

7/22/2015 - Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease
Posted questions to panel
http://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/medcac-meeting-details.aspx?MEDCACId=70

On July 22, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will convene a panel of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC). The MEDCAC panel will examine the scientific evidence of existing interventions that aim to improve health outcomes in the Medicare population, and address areas where evidence gaps exist, related to lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD). For purposes of this MEDCAC, we will focus on three categories along the disease progression continuum (asymptomatic, intermittent claudication, and critical limb ischemia).

Clinical outcomes of interest to the Medicare program include reduction in pain; avoidance of amputation; improvement in quality of life and/or functional capacity including walking distance; wound healing; avoidance of cardiovascular events, including myocardial infarction, stroke, cardiovascular death, and all-cause mortality; and avoidance of harms from the interventions. By voting on specific questions, and by their discussions, MEDCAC panel members will advise CMS about the extent to which it may wish to use existing evidence as the basis for any future determinations about Medicare coverage for interventions related to lower extremity peripheral artery disease. MEDCAC panels do not make coverage determinations, but CMS often benefits from their advice.