Queuing for Coronary Angiography During Severe Supply-Demand Mismatch in a US Public Hospital

Abstract
In recent years a debate has been waged over the problems of escalating costs and increasingly limited access to medical care in the United States.1-3 As Americans consider health care system reform and restricting access to health care, experiences from countries with universal access policies and national health care systems have come under scrutiny. An integral component of most national health care systems is the use of waiting lists for nonurgent medical care and procedures.1-3 In this setting, the care of patients with cardiovascular diseases is of particular concern because adverse cardiac events and excess deaths have been increasingly reported during waits for either percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or coronary artery bypass grafting.4-10