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PET Reimbursement: United States

Authors :
R. D. Tesar
R. E. Coleman
Source :
PET and PET-CT in Oncology ISBN: 9783642622984
Publication Year :
2004
Publisher :
Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2004.

Abstract

The utilization of positron emission tomography (PET) is increasing and its major impact at this time is on the management of oncology patients. The utilization of PET scans in oncologic patients is benefiting only a small percentage of patients who could benefit from having a PET scan. Since the initial coverage of lung cancer indications by Medicare in January 1998, several cancers are now covered by Medicare and other third-party payers. The delay in utilization relates to several factors: lack of knowledge about PET by referring physicians; lack of knowledge about PET by patients; limited number of PET scanners available; and limited number of physicians trained to read PET scans. With the recent introduction of combined PET and computed tomography (CT) devices, additional complexity in performing and interpreting PET scans is introduced. Now we have the decision to make concerning the technologist who performs the study, i.e., is it a radiologic technologist, a nuclear medicine technologist, or both, and the physician interpreting the study, i.e., is it a diagnostic radiologist alone or a nuclear medicine physician interpreting the PET scan and a diagnostic radiologist interpreting the CT scan?

Details

ISBN :
978-3-642-62298-4
ISBNs :
9783642622984
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
PET and PET-CT in Oncology ISBN: 9783642622984
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........bfeb9fe0bc85aa01de1281068e27869d
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-18803-9_34