Heartflow Plaque Analysis Now Covered by Aetna Insurance Plans Nationwide and for the Majority of Insured Lives in the U.S.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Jan. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Heartflow, Inc. (Heartflow) (NASDAQ:HTFL), the leader in AI technology for coronary artery disease (CAD), today announced Heartflow Plaque Analysis is now covered by Aetna across all lines of business, including Commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Aetna Better Health Medicaid plans. Aetna is the fourth major national commercial insurer to update its policies to cover Heartflow Plaque Analysis to fully align with the guidelines issued by radiology benefit manager EviCore, following similar decisions by Humana, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare. Heartflow Plaque Analysis is covered for the majority of insured lives across the United States.
This coverage milestone follows the American Medical Association's recent implementation of the new Category I Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) payment code 75577 for Heartflow Plaque Analysis, effective January 1, 2026, which established 0.85 relative value units (RVUs) and a combined total of 4.00 RVUs for physicians performing the service.
"Aetna's decision to cover Heartflow Plaque Analysis nationwide is a pivotal step in expanding access to our AI-driven plaque quantification and characterization technology," said John Farquhar, President and CEO of Heartflow. "With four major commercial payers and Medicare now recognizing the innovation and value of our platform, more clinicians can gain earlier, clearer insights into coronary plaque. More patients will benefit from early detection and precise quantification of plaque with Heartflow Plaque Analysis, leading to more personalized treatment strategies and improved prognostic assessment, helping set a new benchmark for cardiovascular care."
The updated coverage became effective on December 23, 2025 for Aetna patients with acute or stable chest pain and mild-to-moderate narrowing of coronary arteries (1-69% stenosis) identified on coronary CTA. The policy expands access for patients to AI-driven plaque analysis, supporting earlier diagnosis, personalized risk stratification, and more precise management of CAD.
The new CPT code was issued in response to increased utilization of AI-powered plaque quantification and characterization technology like Heartflow Plaque Analysis and strong clinical evidence supporting its value. Together, broader national payer coverage and Category I reimbursement position the Heartflow platform as the highest-value pathway in cardiac CT, expanding access and supporting practical adoption in clinical practice.
Heartflow's continued advancement of Heartflow Plaque Analysis builds on the real-world evidence demonstrated in the landmark DECIDE Registry data, the largest prospective registry evaluating the clinical impact of Heartflow Plaque Analysis on medical management decisions. The DECIDE registry showed that more than 50% of patients had their medical management changed when Heartflow Plaque Analysis with Heartflow Plaque Staging* was added compared to their management based on CCTA alone.1 A retrospective analysis of symptomatic patients from a cohort of the FISH&CHIPS Study presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions 2025 provided the largest validation to date of the Heartflow Plaque Staging framework based on total plaque volume measurement as a predictor of future heart attacks or cardiovascular death.2
Heartflow Plaque Analysis is the only FDA-cleared, AI-powered plaque quantification tool with 95% agreement to the gold standard, IVUS, using blinded core lab adjudication.3
About Heartflow's Technology and Research
Heartflow's technology is redefining precision cardiovascular care through clinically-proven AI and the world's largest coronary imaging dataset. Heartflow has been adopted by more than 1,400 institutions globally and continues to strengthen its commercial presence to make this cutting-edge solution more widely available to an increasingly diverse patient population. Backed by ACC/AHA guidelines and supported by more than 600 peer-reviewed publications, Heartflow has redefined how clinicians manage care for over 500,000 patients worldwide.4 Key benefits include:
- Proprietary data pipeline: Built from more than 160 million annotated CTA images, Heartflow's data foundation powers advanced AI models that deliver highly accurate, reproducible insights across diverse patient populations.
- Extensive clinical and real-world validation: Heartflow's AI-driven solutions have been validated through clinical evidence in over 100 studies assessing over 365,000 patients. Proven in real-world practice with reproducibility and accuracy, Heartflow's coronary CTA image acceptance rates exceed 97%.
- Seamless clinical integration via upgraded workflow: Heartflow delivers final quality-reviewed analyses instantly upon order, enabling clinicians to move from diagnosis to decision without delay.
- Quality system, global security and patient-data integrity compliance: Heartflow meets or exceeds leading international standards, including HITRUST, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 13485, and ISO 27001.
About Heartflow, Inc.
Heartflow is transforming coronary artery disease from the world's leading cause of death into a condition that can be detected early, diagnosed accurately, and managed for life. The Heartflow One platform uses AI to turn coronary CTA images into personalized 3D models of the heart, providing clinically meaningful, actionable insights into plaque location, volume, and composition and its effect on blood flow — all without invasive procedures. Discover how we're shaping the future of cardiovascular care at heartflow.com.
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1 DECIDE Registry. Rinehart, et al., presented at SCCT 2025.
2 Fairbairn et al., presented at AHA 2025.
3 Ihdayhid A, et al. Radiol Cardiothorac Imaging. 2024. doi: 10.1148/ryct.230312 and internal bridging study with ICC correlation between first generation and second generation Plaque Analysis algorithm.
4 Gulati, et al. 2021 AHA/ACC/ASE/CHEST/SAEM/SCCT/SCMR Guideline for the Evaluation & Diagnosis of Chest Pain. J Am Coll Cardiol.
*Heartflow Plaque Analysis is an FDA-cleared device. Heartflow Plaque Staging is an investigational-only framework, and its safety and effectiveness have not been reviewed by the FDA.
