A company promising “preventive imaging” of the body has apparently shut down in Denver after the state health department cited it for improper CT scans and ordered it to cease the tests.
Heart Check America, whose northwest Denver facility was part of a national chain, has shuttered its doors and is not returning calls after the state’s April 25 order to cease scans, state officials said.
Heart Check America offered heart and lung imaging, bone density scans, “virtual colonoscopies” and other services, often advertising directly to the public for peace-of-mind services without a doctor’s referral. The company’s Denver CT scanner was apparently calibrated properly and its technicians had the right training, but it was not using a Colorado-licensed physician for supervision as required, health officials said.
Colorado does allow for so-called healing arts screening, but within certain rules. The X-ray Certification Unit of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment at first ordered the company on April 14 to scan only about 5 percent of its clientele referred by doctors. It added a full stop order on April 25, and when the health department visited the company on a follow-up on May 5, the offices were empty.
Colorado health officials said they were concerned the images were not of enough quality to provide any diagnosis, and that exposure to even the controlled radiation should have more medical justification. They also said the images may not have been read by a radiologist “in a timely fashion,” according to a letter to the Colorado Medical Board by Brian Vamvakias, X-ray certification unit leader.
Heart Check America advertises clinics in Nevada, Illinois, New York, South Carolina, California and Washington, D.C.
Heart Check America did not return phone calls Monday. The company’s national voice-mail system said the company has “a backlog” and is undergoing a reorganization.
The health department said consumers who felt they had been defrauded by Heart Check America should contact the Office of the Attorney General, , or 303-866-5189.
Michael Booth: 303-954-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com
