Incidental Coronary Calcification Quality Improvement Project

Incidental Coronary Calcification Quality Improvement Project

This is a multi-center, randomized quality improvement project. At least 200 statin-naïve patients without a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with incidental coronary artery calcium (CAC) on a prior non-gated chest CT will be enrolled across the Stanford Healthcare System and the Palo Alto Veteran's Affairs Healthcare System. Patients will be randomized in a 1:1 fashion to notification or usual care arms. The primary aim of this project is to estimate the increase in 6-month statin prescription among statin-naïve patients without a history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease with incidental CAC on a non-gated chest CT who are randomized to receive notification of their findings vs. usual care.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Non-gated chest CT between 2014-2019
• The presence of CAC confirmed by manual review by an experienced radiologist
• Stanford affiliated primary care provider or endocrinologist for Stanford healthcare system patients and VA primary care provider for VA patients with at least 1 encounter since 2018

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or prior statin or PCSK9 inhibitor therapy
• Prior diagnosis of ASCVD (coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, cerebrovascular disease, coronary/peripheral revascularization)
• Prior coronary imaging (cardiac CT, invasive coronary angiography)
• Dementia
• Metastatic cancer or active cancer undergoing chemotherapy
• History of medical nonadherence