HEALTH CARE : Surgery Center Hopes Test’s New Name Will Give Its Visibility a Lift

Physician Care, an outpatient surgery center in Brea, has come up with a new marketing strategy: It has developed a new name for a 5-year-old diagnostic test for calcium buildup in the coronary arteries.

The company has a trademark for the name--Calcicardiogram--and hopes that being the only facility in the country able to offer the test under that name will boost its visibility.

Physician Care spokeswoman Donna Morrison said the Calcicardiogram can tell whether calcium deposits are building up earlier than other tests, such as the ECG treadmill, thallium stress test or the echocardiogram, can detect such buildup.

“If you catch (calcium buildup) early, you know that coronary artery disease has begun, and you will know that you need to change your lifestyle,” Morrison said.

Two other places in state--UCLA and San Francisco General Hospital--offer the same test, but under different names. Morrison said that use of the name Calcicardiogram should help to not only standardize the procedure in the medical community, but also give the clinic a boost.

Calcium buildup can clog arteries, requiring bypass heart surgery or an angioplasty. An angioplasty involves opening clogged arteries with small balloons or inserting a laser into the artery and cutting away the blockage.

Lifestyle changes in the early stages of heart disease can slow or stop the calcium buildup, Morrison said.

The procedure, which takes minutes to complete, costs $395, Morrison said. The clinic, which is affiliated with St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, bills most insurance plans.