Because the findings are representative of Medicare patients for whom PET would be ordered if it were covered by CMS for the expanded indications, SNM joins with NOPR in calling for CMS to raise its restrictions on reimbursement.

"NOPR afforded oncologists and nuclear medicine physicians a unique opportunity to make PET available to Medicare beneficiaries and to improve our understanding of the role of PET in oncology practice," said SNM member Barry Siegel, M.D., co-chair of the NOPR Working Group. "Based on the results, Medicare should strongly consider opening up the coverage to include diagnosis, staging, and restaging for all cancers."


For more information about NOPR, please visit www.cancerpetregistry.org.

About SNM-Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular and nuclear imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed journal in the field (Journal of Nuclear Medicine); host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have introduced-and continue to explore-biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.

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