I too have wondered why there is such a discrepancy in reinbursement for echo and vascular.  In our lab they both carotids and echo's take approx 20 minutes give or take a few.  HOWEVER, abdominal, venous, and most every arterial take much much longer.  Frank or anyone on the Medicare team, is there going to be a major change soon? I did read somewhere that vascular reinbursement went up a bit this year and echo down a bit.  But come on, I think only places like Mayo and Duke that spend hours on an echo deserve $600 for them.

Nancy Hohn, RVT, RDCS
Nebraska Heart Institute
Vascular Lab 402-483-8551
[log in to unmask]