Diagnostics

Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography (PET/CT) scanner

Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography helps us pinpoint cancer earlier, and manage cancer treatment with more precision and confidence. PET/CT combines the best attributes of the two best diagnostic tools: PET technology provides information about the body’s metabolism and changes in cellular function, while CT technology provides anatomic information about where a lesion is located. By combining them, PET/CT gives us images that provide anatomic and metabolic information that result from a single exam in a single system.

We can now diagnose and localize cancer faster than ever before.

A single PET/CT scan quickly provides answers to these critical questions:

• Where is the tumor?
• Is it spreading?
• How large is it?
• What is the optimal therapy?
• Is the therapy working?
• Is there a recurrence? And if so, where and to what extent?

PET/CT technology helps meet the your needs and the needs of radiologists, nuclear medicine professionals, radiation oncologists, surgical oncologists and other referring physicians by providing:

• Accurate location of lesions, identification of benign versus malignant lesions, and differentiation from scar tissue.
• Excellent sensitivity and specificity, resulting in clinical confidence and the potential reduction of false positives and false negatives.
• Information to help physicians stage cancer.
• Information to aid in surgical and radiation treatment planning.
• The ability to monitor the effectiveness of treatment and adjust the plan during, rather than at the end of, treatment.

PET/CT is covered by Medicare and most private payers.
Many private insurance carriers pay for PET/CT scans in select clinical indications on a case-by-case evaluation. Medicare approved clinical indications are typically approved for reimbursement by private payers. Pre-authorization is still required for those indications as well as all others to qualify for payment. As a rule, private payer patients are not placed on the PET/CT schedule until a pre-authorization number is issued.