Cutting down on repeated nuclear and molecular imaging scans due to poor quality images could save about $1.32 billion over the next 10 years, according to the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Cutting down on repeated nuclear and molecular imaging scans due to poor quality images could save about $1.32 billion over the next 10 years, according to a report from the Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Four percent to 7 percent of these procedures are repeated because of poor imaging, SNM said, and Medicare spends about $132 million in avoidable scans each year.
“Having to repeat a nuclear or molecular imaging scan because of the poor quality of the original image is something that shouldn’t happen and something that can be fixed,” Ann Marie Alessi, BS, CNMT, NCT, RT(N), president of SNM’s Technologist Section, said in a statement.
Ensuring that technologists have the appropriate training and education would help reduce most of these repeated scans, Alessi said. The SNM is advocating for the passage of the Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging (CARE) bill before Congress. The measure would establish minimum education and certification standards for those who perform nuclear medicine and molecular imaging procedures.
Thirty states and the District of Columbia have certification or licensure provisions for nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technologists requiring they be certified a national credentialing organization, according to SNM.
“With new technologies upon us every year," Alessi said, "it’s critical that nuclear medicine and molecular imaging technologists are up to date on the techniques needed to appropriately perform the imaging scans."
Strategies to Reduce Disparities in Interventional Radiology Care
March 19th 2025In order to help address the geographic, racial, and socioeconomic barriers that limit patient access to interventional radiology (IR) care, these authors recommend a variety of measures ranging from increased patient and physician awareness of IR to mobile IR clinics and improved understanding of social determinants of health.
The Reading Room Podcast: Current Perspectives on the Updated Appropriate Use Criteria for Brain PET
March 18th 2025In a new podcast, Satoshi Minoshima, M.D., Ph.D., and James Williams, Ph.D., share their insights on the recently updated appropriate use criteria for amyloid PET and tau PET in patients with mild cognitive impairment.
Study: Monitoring of Prostate MRI Exams Could Lead to 75 Percent Reduction of Gadolinium Contrast
March 17th 2025While DCE MRI was deemed helpful in over 67 percent of cases in which it was used, researchers found that monitored prostate MRI exams, which facilitated a 75 percent reduction of DCE MRI sequences, had comparable sensitivity for prostate cancer as non-monitored exams.