Transcatheter Dialysis Conduit Procedures: Changing National and State-Level Medicare Use Patterns over 15 Years

To evaluate the changing use of transcatheter hemodialysis conduit procedures.

Multiple Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services datasets were used to assess hemodialysis conduit angiography. Use was normalized per 100,000 beneficiaries and stratified by specialty and site of service.

From 2001 to 2015, hemodialysis angiography use increased from 385 to 1,045 per 100,000 beneficiaries (compound annual growth rate [CAGR], +7.4%)]. Thrombectomy use increased from 114 to 168 (CAGR, +2.8%). Angiography and thrombectomy changed, by specialty, +1.5% and -1.3% for radiologists, +18.4% and +14.4% for surgeons, and +24.0% and +17.7% for nephrologists, respectively. By site, angiography and thrombectomy changed +29.1% and +20.7% for office settings and +0.8% and -2.4% for hospital settings, respectively. Radiologists' angiography and thrombectomy market shares decreased from 81.5% to 37.0% and from 84.2% to 47.3%, respectively. Angiography use showed the greatest growth for nephrologists in the office (from 5 to 265) and the greatest decline for radiologists in the hospital (299 to 205). Across states in 2015, there was marked variation in the use of angiography (0 [Wyoming] to 1173 [Georgia]) and thrombectomy (0 [6 states] to 275 [Rhode Island]). Radiologists' angiography and thrombectomy market shares decreased in 48 and 31 states, respectively, in some instances dramatically (eg, angiography in Nevada from 100.0% to 6.7%).

Dialysis conduit angiography use has grown substantially, more so than thrombectomy. This growth has been accompanied by a drastic market shift from radiologists in hospitals to nephrologists and surgeons in offices. Despite wide geographic variability nationally, radiologist market share has declined in most states.