NASPE GUIDELINES - ARE THEY BEING FOLLOWED

Six hundred forty-six clinics provided input on their pacemaker follow -up practices in July, 1995. The results of this survey indicate there is much diversity in how pacemaker patients are followed on a long te rm basis. Many clinics were not following NASPE guidelines for pacemak er follow-up activities. In general clinics tended to follow their pat ients more often than NASPE recommends. Some clinics were following Me dicare guidelines for dual chamber pacemaker office visits, which are more frequent than NASPE guidelines. Many clinics in the study did not perform thorough patient evaluations (as described by NASPE) during o ffice visits. These findings warrant further study to determine why cl inics are not following NASPE guidelines.