PET Scans and Medicare      

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One tool that many researchers and oncologists feel is very useful in diagnosing and treating cancer is the PET (position emission tomography) scan.  The reason the PET scan is considered an effective tool is that unlike a CT scan, it actually isolates the location of a tumor or cancer and shows whether it is spreading to other areas.

A PET scan works by using radioactive sugars which localize at the point of the cancer or tumors.  When these are located, this tells an oncologist basically where the cancer is and if it is contained or spreading.  Some oncologists use the PET scan in conjunction with a CT scan for clarity, since the resolution of a CT scan is clearer than the resolution of the PET scan. 

All of this sounds great, right?  Well, yes, except that there have been questions regarding the effectiveness of the PET scan as a useful tool.  As a result, Medicare has only approved the PET scan for certain cancers for the past few years, and it has a mandatory registry that doctors must sign their patients who receive the PET scan into, so that data can be collected regarding how well the scans work.

This is important information to have, but it comes at a price: $50 per patient for the registry.  In addition, since Medicare limits the types of cancer that the PET scans can be used for, this leaves out a lot of patients.

Currently, Medicare is reviewing whether more data is needed, or whether the data that the registry has collected is sufficient to determine the effectiveness of the PET.  In addition, it is reviewing whether more types of cancer can be approved for diagnosis by PET scan.  If so, this could help millions of individuals receiving Medicare and their physicians get to the root of the problem faster and more accurately, and start treatment.

If you are among those who are dealing with or possibly being diagnosed with cancer and you are on Medicare, check with your doctor to see if a PET scan would be helpful in your situation.

Entry Filed under: General-Medicare