by
Loren Bonner, DOTmed News Online Editor | June 09, 2014
From the June 2014 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
HCBN: How have any legislative measures, the SGR patch for instance, had an impact — if at all — on nuclear medicine and molecular imaging?
PH: The SGR fix was temporary for many areas, but it permanently tied physician reimbursement for advanced imaging to appropriate use criteria. Now referring physicians will need to consult appropriate use criteria before ordering a molecular imaging procedure, in order to determine whether it is clinically appropriate for a patient’s condition. As long as the appropriate use criteria utilized reflect the established value of nuclear medicine procedures, this is a positive development.
HCBN: You served as a professor of neurology and radiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo. Are you excited the show will take place in St. Louis this year?
PH: Yes, I was fortunate to work at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine for several years. This institution was the source of numerous advances in nuclear medicine. The earliest PET scanners were developed there by Mike Phelps and the late Michel Ter-Pogossian in the 1970s. Time-of-flight PET imaging was also implemented there. Marcus Raichle applied methods for using oxygen-15 labeled PET radiopharmaceuticals for clinical research, especially in the areas of functional brain mapping and cerebrovascular disease. The late Mike Welch was a leader in the field of radiochemistry. He was a president of our society, and we have an important award at our annual meeting given in his memory. We are looking forward to having members of his family in attendance. And we are delighted that this year’s Cassen Prize Lecturer, Dr. Barry Siegel, is from Washington University School of Medicine, where he has been director of nuclear medicine for many years.
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