3D-printing has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of medicine across practice areas. However, because it is not yet treated as a reimbursable expense, doctors currently must rely on organizations like OpHeart and individual benefactors to support its use.

3DHeart is the first and only large-scale study designed to investigate improved surgical outcomes and reduced medical costs by utilizing 3D printing. Nearly 100 pediatric cardiac doctors at 17 premiere hospitals across the United States are collaborating in this landmark study to analyze 400 cases in which newborns present heart defects that require a complex, biventricular repair, and to utilize 3D-printed models in pre-surgical planning for these patients.

3DHeart not only offers the chance to improve the treatment for a significant population of babies born with the most common birth defect that is also the leading cause of infant death, but to provide the needed data that could remove the most significant barrier to the utilization of 3D-printing across all areas of medicine, saving and improving countless lives.

We hope that, by undertaking such a study, third-party payers will have evidence of the human and economic value of this technology, and reimburse for it.

Are you interested in participating in 3DHeart? Contact Anne Garcia at anne@opheart.org.