Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT

Cardiologist, Cardiac Imager, Tweets do not = advice

[Purdue Men's Basketball @BoilerBall]

REMINDER: The Hammer Down Cancer shoes and jerseys benefiting @RileyKids @RileyChildrens and @PUCancerInst ends at Midnight tonight!

Submit your bid here: ➡️ https://t.co/KHQDEbKijQ

[Shamit Desai MD @shamitsdesai]

Doctors are paid too much…
@linemonkeymd @PhysStaffSolns @DutchRojas @mcuban @DrDiGiorgio @drdanchoi

Only 2 parties bring money/value into care: physicians and patients. Everything else is an INTENTIONAL distraction to leech money. Don’t lose sight of this absolute truth.

[Tyler Olson, EA @olsonplanner]

Every year, I see doctors sign 6-figure mistakes because they rush through the fine print.

Here’s what to watch for (and what to do instead): 🧵

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@MikeDenbrock on behalf of the entirety of ND nation, did you recruit the best backs and O linemen to get cute and throw bubble screens. I feel like I could call trash like that

[Here Come The Irish @herecometheiris]

RETWEET IF YOU WANT NOTRE DAME TO BEAT MIAMI!!! ☘️🏈

[Dutch Rojas @DutchRojas]

What if America treated healthcare like it treated oil, tech, and war?

Not as a social contract, but a strategic export.

Britain once ruled with ships. America can do it with scalpels.

Here’s how U.S. healthcare becomes the most profitable export in modern history.

A 🧵…

[Dutch Rojas @DutchRojas]

Steve Jobs once said: “You can’t hire bad people and expect to build a great company.”

He was talking about ideas and how companies become battlegrounds for them.

Hire mediocre people, and the best ideas die in meetings.

Hire great people, and the best ideas win even if they’re uncomfortable.

Healthcare hasn’t learned this.
It still hires for compliance, not courage.
It rewards obedience, not originality.
It builds echo chambers, not battlegrounds of ideas.

So where do the best people go?
Banking.
Insurance.
Big Tech.
Oil and Gas.

Anywhere but healthcare.

Because those industries compete for talent.
Healthcare repels it.

Until we build systems that reward truth-telling, risk-taking, and ideas that win on merit, we’ll keep losing the war.

And no, another committee won’t fix that.

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@_willcompton @ForTheDadsPod Love this

[Michael S. Kim @Mike_kim714]

Masters Giveaway!

Nothing crazy, just a couple golf shirts and some hats from the ANGC pro shop.

(I know it’s super late but I’ve been busy 🤷🏻‍♂️)

Only 1 winner and I’ll be picking today.
I’ll throw in some of my stuff as well like the @Binary_Defense hat and @Titleist prov1X

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@stoolpresidente This didn't age well. Turns out the game is 60 min. Apparently big ten only trains for the first half. 🤡

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@ChaseDaniel @theallinpod

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@Heart_SCCT a long journey that led to an important result. This change will allow for access to true multi-modality imaging for patients across the country in accordance with guidelines. The SCCT team truly delivered for its membership and patients over these last 7 years 💪🏼

[Heart_SCCT @Heart_SCCT]

CMS has approved a major reclassification for coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in the 2025 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS), doubling the Medicare reimbursement rate from $175 to $357.13. This update recognizes the value of CCTA in cardiac care, offering more appropriate compensation for hospitals and potentially improving patient access.

This milestone is the result of dedicated advocacy from SCCT members and the cardiovascular imaging community, advancing access to essential cardiac diagnostics nationwide.

SCCT gratefully acknowledges the invaluable contributions of @docjuanb @RonBlankstein @MGRabbatMD and @drdthomas30. Over the past six years, they have dedicated countless hours to advocacy efforts, meeting with legislators and CMS to champion this cause.

[Dustin Thomas, MD, FACC, FSCCT @drdthomas30]

@PatMcAfeeShow Barkley. Hands down

[Rep. Jake Auchincloss 🟧 @RepAuchincloss]

Calling all Pharmacists! Help me keep the pressure on PBMs-tag #PharmacistsFightBack with the most outrageous Rx drug markup you've seen. Call & tag your Representatives & ask them to cosponsor the #PharmacistsFightBack Act. We need 25 Ds & 25 Rs by Thanksgiving.

[Real Doc Speaks @realdocspeaks]

This graph shows that the ACA and Medicare Advantage have become insurance subsidy programs. Regulators and politicians are obsessed with harassing physicians and blaming us for rising health costs.

[Real Doc Speaks @realdocspeaks]

https://t.co/NoiTZIJ5SE This is a great article that shows the risk of vertical integration in healthcare. United Health is the largest employer of physicians in the US, with 90,000 or 10% of all physicians under their control. The physicians are under the Optum unit of United Health.

United Health is using the physicians, as well as the home health unit, to orchestrate a nationwide screening campaign for peripheral arterial disease or PAD.

The US Preventative Services Task Force is an independent group that advises primary care physicians on screening tests. They don't recommend screening asymptomatic patients for peripheral arterial disease because of lack of evidence it benefits patients.

The impetus behind the campaign is to capture additional payments from CMS for patients enrolled in the Medicare Advantage program. Each diagnosis of peripheral arterial disease is worth about $3,600 in Medicare payments.

The article describes a series of emails between United Health Executives that discuss the money-making potential of making PAD diagnoses in Medicare Advantage patients. These emails have led to an ongoing whistle-blower suit.

The patients were screened for PAD with a device called QuantFlo. This device was approved by the FDA to assist in the diagnosis of PAD but not to make the diagnosis of PAD.

The research submitted to the FDA for approval of QuantFlo involved only 15 patients.

In summary, this article discusses United Health abusing vertical integration to achieve massive payments from Medicare that do not benefit patients.

This is more profit over patients, and we can't afford this behavior with rising healthcare costs in the US.

This is great reporting, and the real question is, will the Federal Government continue to allow this misuse of taxpayer dollars?

[Heart_SCCT @Heart_SCCT]

💓❤️‍🔥New clarification from CMS on billing #CCTA
CMS updated policy to allow #CCTA to be reported w/ appropriate revenue codes!

Clinical charge masters can use revenue codes 0489x (Cardiology – Other) or 0409x (Other Imaging Services)

Learn more: https://t.co/OUGWbfVR52

[Hoosiers Connect @HoosiersConnect]

RETWEET TO SUPPORT COACH CIG! A donor has agreed to make a gift based on the likes and retweets of this post. Let's continue to #backtherock

[Fore Play @ForePlayPod]

⛳️ SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER STEALTH 2 DRIVER GIVEAWAY ⛳️

Our friends at @TaylorMadeGolf are giving away a Stealth 2 Driver built to the exact specs that Scottie uses.

All you have to do to enter is follow @TaylorMadeGolf & @ForePlayPod and retweet.

[Ron Blankstein @RonBlankstein]

This webinar is free for all trainees and SCCT members! Come join us at 11am EST in discussing how to implement CAD RADS 2.0 when reporting #YesCCT ! @AnamWaheed05 @cury_ricardo @RCardoso_MD @imagingmedsci