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Kirk Lawson/River Radiology
331.8268/klawson@riverradiology.com
Joan Schuman/Joan Schuman Assoc
845.338.2955/jsa@hvc.rr.com
May 1, 2006 Kingston, NY: River Radiology is pleased to announce participation in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) that is expected to be operational by mid summer. River Radiology’s joining the NOPR will directly benefit many cancer patients in the Hudson Valley. “Some patients have cancers and indications that are not usually eligible for reimbursable PET scans by Medicare,” said Dr. David Hall, radiologist and head of Nuclear Medicine at River Radiology, in Kingston, NY. “Our participation in NOPR means that Medicare will cover PET imaging for many of these cancer patients.”
PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography and is especially effective for detecting the presence and extent of malignancies. The goal of the National Oncologic Pet Registry is to assess the effect of PET on the management of patients with particular cancers. Medicare doesn’t usually cover PET scans for patients with brain, cervical, small cell lung, pancreatic, ovarian and testicular cancers. Because River Radiology is participating with the NOPR study, Medicare will soon cover the cost of these PET procedures for area patients.
This is not the first time Medicare has announced an expanded coverage of PET scans. Last year, Medicare announced it would cover PET for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease in patients with a possible diagnosis of dementia and a documented cognitive decline of at least 6 months duration. The evaluation of the patient must be conducted by a neurologist or other physician experienced in the diagnosis and assessment of dementia.
PET technology detects changes in brain metabolism that cannot be seen on CT or MRI scans. Patients undergoing PET receive an injection of a short-lived radioisotope, and are scanned one hour later. The scanning procedure is painless, and takes about 30 minutes. In addition to Alzheimer’s diagnosis, PET has been widely used for the detection and evaluation of many different kinds of cancer. According to Dr. Hall, River Radiology installed the first PET scanner in the Hudson Valley in 2002. River Radiology received PET accreditation from the American College of Radiology in September, 2004 and is the only facility in Ulster County with such accreditation.
River Radiology is a full service imaging center offering high field and open MRI, CT, PET and combined PET-CT, Ultrasound, Mammography, Bone Densitometry, X-ray, and Nuclear Medicine. River Radiology is open seven days a week. For information call 845.340.4500 or visit www.riverradiology.com.
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