FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) announced today that Intermountain Healthcare has endorsed the NCCN Imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (NCCN Imaging AUC™). NCCN and Intermountain are both recognized by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as approved provider-led entities (PLEs) for development of imaging AUC. Intermountain will aggregate the NCCN AUC for lung cancer with its own AUC and utilize the content for decision support. Intermountain is one of the largest hospital systems in the United States, serving patients across Utah, Southeastern Idaho, and the surrounding area.

"This agreement with Intermountain helps ensure patients throughout the mountain region are receiving the best, most up-to-date treatment," said Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. "The NCCN Imaging AUC is designed as a reference that can be integrated into the appropriate use criteria already in place at Intermountain. By working with a system that includes both large hospitals and community health clinics, we can make sure that the best care is available to patients regardless of location or circumstances."

Derived from the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®), the NCCN Imaging AUC™ supports clinical decision-making around the use of imaging in patients with cancer by outlining all imaging procedures recommended in the NCCN Guidelines ®, including radiographs, computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional nuclear medicine imaging (PET, SPECT), and ultrasound. The NCCN Guidelines are the recognized standard for clinical policy in cancer care and are the most thorough and frequently updated clinical practice guidelines available in any area of medicine.
"Intermountain has endorsed NCCN Imaging AUC because of the outstanding quality of NCCN pathways and is pleased as a qualified Provider-Led Entity to be able to aggregate Intermountain and NCCN content into a single comprehensive set of Imaging AUC that covers all of the Priority Clinical Areas required under PAMA," said Keith White, MD, Medical Director of Imaging Services for Intermountain.

NCCN's Library of Compendia also includes reference guides for biomarkers, drugs and biologics, and radiation therapy.

About Intermountain Healthcare
Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based, not-for-profit system of 22 hospitals, 180 clinics, a Medical Group with some 1,500 employed physicians, a health plan called SelectHealth, and other health services. Helping people live the healthiest lives possible, Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit intermountainhealthcare.org.

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