Charges for positron emission tomography examinations vary widely, and discounting is common, according to a report released last month. Centers eager to boost the use of PET trim as much as $800 off PET exams that can cost over $2000, the report found.
Averaging the costs and charges produced more moderate numbers, however. The average charge for a PET exam at 24 U.S. sites was $1742, slightly more than the average $1716 cost per scan, according to the study. If PET facilities can perform about six scans per day, costs could decline to about $1318 per scan.
The consulting firm of Coopers and Lybrand conducted the study, under contract to the Institute for Clinical PET.
Because many of the surveyed centers had begun operating within the past 14 months, patient charges tended to be extraordinarily low in order to attract patients. As a result, the ratio between technical and professional fees charged at the centers may be skewed, compared to those of conventional imaging techniques, said Dr. John C. Mazziotta, ICP president.
The intent of the study was to get a handle on this financially elusive modality, according to J. Michael McGehee, ICP executive director. The ICP hopes the Health Care Financing Administration will reference its report when considering PET for Medicare reimbursement, possibly in 1992. Whether the report will help or hurt is not certain, he said.
"A series of numbers was discussed as to what the cost of PET actually was," McGehee said. "There was a wide discrepancy from low to high and somewhere in the middle. There is now a clear, documented report that spells out in comprehensive detail what the cost of PET actually is."
The report suffers from the same variables that affect clinical PET, however. Low throughput was common as centers worked to evaluate and optimize procedures, Mazziotta said.
An additional problem in conducting the financial analyses was that many centers that participated in the survey are affiliated with universities and perform both research and clinical studies, making it all but impossible to determine true costs, he said.
