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June 22, 2010
NOPR is Developing Registry for NaF-18 PET to Identify Bone Metastasis
The National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) has decided to implement a data registry for NaF-18 PET similar to that now in place for many uses of FDG-PET. This new
registry is currently under development, but we are unable to project a launch date at this time. We will notify the PET community when the new registry is ready to
open. Until then, there is no Medicare coverage of NaF-18 PET under the NOPR.
The development of this new registry is in response to the February 26, 2010 publication by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of a final National
Coverage Determination (NCD) pertaining to the coverage of NaF-18 PET to identify bone metastasis (see http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?
from2=viewdecisionmemo.asp&id=233. As previously announced to NOPR facilities, based on its review of the evidence, CMS concluded that NaF-18 PET should be covered
only under an approved coverage with evidence development (CED) study.
Note, that at the present time, there is no qualifying clinical study for NaF-18 PET that would enable this coverage. Thus, until the NOPR registry (or another
CMS-approved study) for NaF-18 PET is qualified, there is no Medicare coverage for NaF-18 PET.
March 1, 2010
CMS Coverage of NaF-18 PET to Identify Bone Metastasis
On Friday, February 26, 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final National Coverage Determination (NCD)
pertaining to the coverage of NaF-18 PET to identify bone metastasis (see http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?from2=viewdecisionmemo.asp&id=233&).
Based on its review of the evidence, CMS concluded that NaF-18 PET should be covered only under an approved coverage with
evidence development (CED) study. At the present time, there is no qualifying clinical study for NaF-18 PET that would
enable this coverage.
The National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) is considering the development of a data registry for NaF-18 PET similar to that
now in place for many uses of FDG-PET. However, NOPR has not yet made a final decision to go forward, and we cannot predict
when such a NaF-18 PET registry would be qualified by CMS if we did go forward. NOPR is not aware whether other organizations
are planning to develop a CED program for NaF-18 PET.
We will send periodic updates to this information, as appropriate.
December 23, 2009
Urgent NOPR Update: Pre-PET Form Changes
The NOPR Operations manual and the Pre-PET form have been revised as a result of the recent change in coverage by CMS for initial treatment
evaluation of cervical cancer. Specifically, patients with suspected cervical cancer are no longer eligible for inclusion in NOPR (because cervical
cancer diagnosis with PET is now non-covered). The previous requirement for a prior CT or MRI scan showing no evidence of extrapelvic
metastatic disease as a condition of coverage for PET outside of NOPR has been rescinded. Thus, patients with cervical cancer no longer need to be
included in the NOPR for any PET indications (and the revised pre-PET form now reflects this).
In addition, the revised pre-PET form now includes four additional questions that need to be answered by the referring physician when
the reason for the PET scan is treatment monitoring.
Beginning on January 11, 2010, pre-PET form data entry on the NOPR web site for patients undergoing PET for treatment monitoring will require
that the answers be provided to these four additional questions. For any treatment monitoring study performed on or after this date, sites are
expected to have the information on the new Pre-PET Form. If use of the old Pre-PET form is continued, the responses for those four questions will be
missing.
To give participating sites adequate time to collect this additional information from referring physicians, the new pre-PET form and the revised
Operations Manual are being posted on the NOPR website today (http://www.cancerpetregistry.org/pdf/nopr_prepet_form_after_20100111.pdf).
If your site has patients already scheduled for NOPR treatment-monitoring PET scans on or after January 11, 2010 and you have already
received pre-PET forms from the referring physicians, you will need to obtain new replacements for these patients using the revised form. You should
also supply your referring physicians with the revised form and inform them of the need to use this form for any patients to be scheduled for PET on or
after January 11, 2010.
Please make sure to download the latest copy of these materials - all now have a version date of 11/30/09. If you have previously distributed copies
of any of these documents to referring physicians, these physicians or members of their staff should be provided with the new versions (or download
them from the NOPR web site) and asked to discontinue use of the old versions of these forms for any patients scheduled on or after January 11,
2010.
November 12, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS Expands Coverage for Cervical Cancer
On November 10, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted a final decision memorandum announcing its
decision to expand coverage for the use of FDG-PET for initial staging of cervical cancer. The new coverage policy allows for
one FDG-PET for staging for beneficiaries who have biopsy proven cervical cancer when the beneficiary’s treating physician determines
that the FDG-PET study is needed to determine the location and/or extent of the tumor for the following therapeutic purposes related
to the initial treatment strategy:
- To determine whether or not the beneficiary is an appropriate candidate for an invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedure; or
- To determine the optimal anatomic location for an invasive procedure; or
- To determine the anatomic extent of tumor when the recommended anti-tumor treatment reasonably depends on the extent of the tumor.
Please note that the use of FDG-PET imaging for diagnosis of cervical cancer is non-covered and should be coded with G0235.
These decisions are final and effective for all claims date of service (DOS) November 10, 2009 or after.
PET facilities participating in the NOPR, should note that initial staging of cervical cancer cases that were previously covered only under
NOPR no longer need to be put through the registry as these cases are now covered. Prior to November 10, 2009, PET performed for initial
staging of cervical cancer could be done only under NOPR if: (1) prior CT or MRI was not performed, or (2) prior CT or MRI was performed
but showed evidence of extrapelvic metastatic disease. We are in the process of making the necessary modifications to the NOPR case report
forms to delete initial staging of cervical cancer (and diagnosis of cervical cancer as reasons for inclusion in the NOPR. You will be
notified when the new forms must be put into use.
A summary of the decision can be found in the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) decision summary posted online:
http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=9266
Please see CMS link: https://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?from2=viewdecisionmemo.asp&id=232&
November 11, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS opens PET NCD reconsideration
The NOPR Working Group and several professional societies submitted a formal request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),
asking that it remove the current restriction that only one FDG-PET scan may be performed to guide the initial treatment strategy.
CMS has initiated its review of this review of this request (see https://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewtrackingsheet.asp?id=237).
At this time, CMS is soliciting comments on the NOPR’s request. The public comment period will be open for 30 days,
until December 9, 2009.
PET facilities participating in the NOPR are encouraged to provide comments (which can be entered directly on-line at the CMS web site).
More importantly, we encourage PET facilities to ask that referring physicians who frequently use PET in their care of patients to submit
comments to CMS indicating how PET has helped them in the care of their patients.
October 30, 2009
NOPR Update: The National Oncologic PET Registry Needs Update Information on Facility PET Scanners
PET facilities participating in the NOPR were required to provide information regarding the vendor and model for each PET scanner it had available at the time of facility registration.
Participating facilities are then asked to indicate which scanner was used for each case entered into the registry.
PET facilities that have acquired new scanners since completing their NOPR facility registration application (and have not updated this
information in the database) are being asked to provide us with that information now. Please provide us with the manufacturer and model
of your newly acquired PET or PET/CT scanner so that we may update the NOPR database. Also provide the date the new scanner went into
service, and indicate whether it was a replacement for an older scanner or was an additional scanner at your facility. In addition,
if the new scanner has been used for any cases enrolled in the registry, please provide the NOPR case numbers for which the new scanner
information has been used.
Please submit the requested information by e-mail to the NOPR at pet_registry@phila.acr.org including the NOPR facility id number,
the scanner manufacturer and model, the date put into service, whether it replaced an existing scanner or was an additional scanner,
and list of cases enrolled using the new scanner. A list of scanners is attached to this notice.
All updates must be submitted to pet_registry@phila.acr.org by November 13, 2009.
Going forward, please remember to update your facility information whenever a new scanner is put into service and being used for the NOPR.
Beginning in January 2010, participating sites will be required to update information about their scanners periodically.
We will provide notice before this requirement becomes effective.
October 21, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS Issues "Clarification" to the April FDG-PET NCD Billing Instructions
On October 16, 2009, CMS released Transmittals R108 NCD; R1833 CP rescinding transmittals R106 NCD and R1817 CP.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R108NCD.pdf;
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1833CP.pdf;
These transmittals further refine and clarify billing instructions to PET facilities and Medicare Administrator Contractors of the change
in the effective date of the new coverage to April 3, 2009 and the implementation date to October 30, 2009. In addition, Business
Requirements (BR 6632.6.1 and 6632.6.2) have been revised to clarify that they are subsets of BR 6632.6 and as such are specific to Coverage
with Evidence Development (CED).
All other information remains unchanged.
A summary of the transmittal can be found in the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) transmittal summary posted online: http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=9163
For additional information, please see the following:
Related Items
September 22, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS Re-issues Billing Instructions for April FDG-PET NCD Changes
CMS Transmittal’s 1817 & 106, Change Request 6632, dated September 18, 2009
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R106NCD.pdf
As a reminder, Transmittal 1772, Change Request 6464, dated July 17, 2009, was rescinded and is replaced by CR6632.
On September 18, 2009, CMS released to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) the long awaited and reissued Guidance and Billing Instructions for the April 2009 changes to the National Coverage Determination (NCD) on Positron Emission Tomography (FDG). Providers will have two new modifiers (in addition to the list of current modifiers) to consider when submitting claims with a date of service (DOS) April 6, 2009 for CPT codes 78608, 78811-78816 for oncologic procedures. Available on or after the implementation date of October 19, 2009, providers submitting claims with a DOS on or after April 6, 2009 for CPT codes 78608, 78811-78816 are now required to identify the procedure as either for initial treatment strategy or subsequent treatment strategy by appending the modifiers PI or PS, respectively.
CMS removed the previously identified ICD-9 range of codes allowing discretion at the local level with the Medicare Contractors. CMS did identify the combination of PI and ICD-9 code 185 as the newly non-covered use of PET for adenocarcinoma of prostate. Providers participating in the national oncologic PET registry (NOPR) for those procedures that continue to be covered only under coverage with evidence development (CED) continue to use the Q0 (zero) modifier and/or V70.7 in the second diagnosis position with condition code 30 in addition to using one of the two new modifiers below.
New Modifiers for PET Effective for Dates of Services (DOS) on or after April 6, 2009 Implemented on or after October 19, 2009
- PI – Positron Emission Tomography (PET) or PET/Computed Tomography (CT) to inform the initial treatment strategy of tumors that are biopsy proven or strongly suspected of being cancerous based on other diagnostic testing. Short descriptor: PET tumor init tx strat
- PS – Positron Emission Tomography (PET) or PET/Computed Tomography (CT) to inform the subsequent treatment strategy of cancerous tumors when the beneficiary's treating physician determines that the PET study is needed to inform subsequent anti-tumor strategy. Short descriptor: PET tumor subsq tx strategy
Since the Medicare Administrative Contractors have 30 days (no sooner than October 19) to implement these changes in their systems, that means PET facilities do too. Continue to submit your claims in accordance with past recommendations until your local contractor issues local instructions and implementation date.
A summary of the transmittal can be found in the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) transmittal summary posted online:
http://www.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=9025&RPID=10
CMS states they will post a MLN Matters Educational article. Stay tuned for more details.
Related Items
July 21, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS Issues Billing Instructions for April FDG-PET NCD Changes
On July 17, 2009, CMS released Transmittals R104 NCD; R1772 CP addressing billing and coverage changes for PET scans effective
for services on or after April 6, 2009. http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R104_NCD.pdf;
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1772_CP.pdf
These transmittals serve as notification to PET facilities and Medicare Administrator Contractors of the new coverage policy for
oncologic PET scans under which coverage has been expanded for the use of PET for initial treatment strategy evaluation (formerly
diagnosis and initial staging) of patients with nearly all cancer types, and also will allow for use of PET in subsequent treatment
strategy evaluations (formerly restaging, detection of suspected recurrence and treatment monitoring) for an expanded number of cancer
types.
Also, included is the introduction of the following new modifiers: PI and PS to be used to inform for the initial or subsequent treatment
strategy and KX to be used whenever a non-cancer ICD-9 code is submitted with a claim.
Since the Medicare Administrator Contractors have 30 days (no sooner than August 17) to implement these changes in their systems,
that means PET facilities do too. Continue to submit your claims in accordance with past recommendations until your local
contractor issues local instructions and implementation date.
We will provide additional information about the implementation of these new billing procedures as it becomes available.
A summary of the transmittal can be found in the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) transmittal summary posted online: http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=8889
CMS transmittal link:
CMS Publishes April Final PET NCD For Solid Tumors and Myeloma and Additional Manual Updates
CMS Publishes Medicare Claims Processing Instructions for PET NCD For Solid Tumors and Myeloma and Additional Manual Updates
June 11, 2009
NOPR Update: SNM Q&A for PET Medicare Clarification SPN and MPN
Because of a recently increased number of questions regarding confusion of Medicare coverage of PET for evaluation of patients with solitary
pulmonary nodules or multiple pulmonary nodules, the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) has recently posted a new coding Q&A addressing
this topic (see below and URL) We hope information is helpful to you.
http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=8734&RPID=1995
SPN and MPN PET Medicare Coverage
Created: May 28, 2009
Question
We are confused about the Medicare PET coverage for lung masses, solitary pulmonary nodules and multiple pulmonary nodules. Can you please clarify? In the past we were billing with diagnosis codes 518.89 or 793.1 prior to biopsy when a biopsy was not available or medically feasible. Can you tell us which ICD 9 indications the Medicare contractors will accept as payable?
Answer
Deciding whether or not to do a PET scan and whether or not it is covered requires medical judgment, as well as compliance judgment. Where PET fits into the continuum in the evaluation of patients with lung nodules depends on many factors including the full clinical history, risk factors for lung cancer, history of prior cancers, the CT appearance of nodule(s), etc. Thus, the answer rests on the specific clinical question being posed by the referring MD. Moreover, the question should be well thought out before ordering an expensive diagnostic test.
To address the questions, we will give a few examples, but these are by no means all of the possibilities. Each of these examples is included under the current Medicare coverage for "initial treatment strategy".
As a general rule, it is usually preferable to get a tissue diagnosis before launching a complex imaging evaluation of a suspected cancer anywhere in the body. This is not always possible, however, and not always the best first step.
In the case of a single nodule or mass thought highly likely to be a primary lung cancer, PET is often ordered before biopsy, less as a test to diagnose cancer, but rather to stage the cancer. If PET demonstrates other lesions (e.g., supraclavicular or mediastinal nodes), it may be far easier to biopsy these than the index lesion in the lung.
In the case of an indeterminate solitary pulmonary nodule, PET is done for diagnosis (to determine whether the lesion is more likely benign or malignant). If PET is negative, the patient typically does not undergo biopsy. In other words, PET helps in this situation to avoid an invasive diagnostic procedure. The situation is similar with an indeterminate biopsy; if PET is negative; the patient is typically followed and avoids an even more invasive diagnostic procedure (resection by VATS or thoracotomy).
The situation with multiple pulmonary nodules also involves several scenarios.
If one or more of the nodules appear spiculated and the patient is a smoker, such that multifocal adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most likely diagnosis, we would view this as an instance of "Lung Cancer: Diagnosis", which is definitely a Medicare-covered indication. Depending on which ICD-9 codes your carrier accepts for a case like this as indicating medical necessity, you may need to be prepared to appeal for payment. Thus, extra care in documentation of medical necessity in the PET report is advised.
If the multiple nodules appear round and smooth and there is significant clinical concern for metastatic disease to the lungs from an unknown primary tumor, PET previously would have had to be performed under NOPR as "Diagnosis: Unknown Primary". This is now a Medicare-covered indication. The same proviso as above regarding ICD-9 codes to document medical necessity applies. We repeat extra care to document medical necessity in the PET report is advised.
Each Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) will be accessing and developing its own list of covered ICD-9 codes based on the April 3, 2009 National Coverage Determination (NCD) for PET. The current situation is in flux, because the CMS transmittal to the carriers pursuant to the recent NCD has not yet been issued, as of the date of this Q&A. The Medicare contractors will eventually be developing new lists of ICD-9 codes to support medical necessity. There will likely be much dialog between providers, medical specialties and contractors before the LCDs are finalized.
Please visit here (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?from2=viewdecisionmemo.asp&id=218&) to see the final CMS PET NCD.
Disclaimer
The opinions referenced are those of the members of the SNM Coding and Reimbursement Committee and their consultants based on their coding experience. They are based on the commonly used codes in Nuclear Medicine, which are not all inclusive. Always check with your local insurance carriers as policies vary by region. The final decision for the coding of a procedure must be made by the physician considering regulations of insurance carriers and any local, state or federal laws that apply to the physicians practice. The SNM and its representatives disclaim any liability arising from the use of these opinions.
June 3, 2009
NOPR Update: Clarification to Covered Indications Table for Melanoma
The entry for “Melanoma (172)” in the Indications Table on the NOPR Web site
and in Appendix III of the Operations Manual has been changed to
specify “Melanoma of Skin (172)”. This indication was clarified to avoid confusion since for Subsequent Treatment Strategy, cutaneous melanoma is covered and nasopharyngeal melanoma is covered (the latter is considered as a head and neck cancer), but ocular melanoma and vulvar/vaginal melanoma must be done under NOPR.
May 20, 2009
NOPR Update: NOPR 2006 Data Changes Due by May 31, 2009
NOPR will submit its final set of data for cases entered under NOPR 2006 (cases entered prior to April 4, 2009) to the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in June. All requests for changes to data on submitted cases (misspellings, typos, etc.)
must be submitted to pet_registry@phila.acr.org by May 31, 2009.
May 6, 2009
NOPR Update: Change to Indications Table and Appendix III of the Operations Manual
We have discovered that the General Note at the bottom of the table entitled “CANCERS AND INDICATIONS ELIGIBLE FOR ENTRY IN THE NOPR” (Appendix III in the Operations Manual) was incorrect. The General Note should have read as follows:
GENERAL NOTE
PET imaging of the brain with CPT code 78608 is covered for those cancers and indications designated by “C” in the table above and is covered only under NOPR for those cancers and indications indicated by “NOPR” in the table above.
Please see http://www.cancerpetregistry.org/indications.htm for the updated indications table.
April 10, 2009
NOPR Update: Guidance Regarding Transition Period Billing
On Friday April 3, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their final PET National Coverage Determination (NCD) that became effective on Monday April 6, 2009. CMS will not likely publish Medicare Claims Guidance until later during the month of April. Guidance regarding billing of PET claims during the transition period has been provided by the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM). For more information please go to: http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=8612 .
In addition, the SNM will be hosting a 90-minute webinar, "Changes to PET Coverage: Including a Review of the NOPR Sequel" on April 27, 2009 to help providers understand the final PET NCD and the new NOPR requirements. For more information regarding registration please go to: https://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=8504&RPID=10 .
April 6, 2009
CMS News: Medicare Expands Coverage of PET Scans as Cancer Diagnostic Tool (4/6/09)
CMS issued a
press release on April 6, 2009 concerning its April 3, 2009 decision to
expand coverage for PET scans as a cancer diagnostic tool under its Coverage
with Evidence Development project. CMS cited the work of the NOPR in its
decision to modify its 2005 coverage policy. “This decision is the first time
that CMS has reconsidered a coverage policy based on new evidence developed
under the CED program.” <http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release.asp?Counter=3436&intNumPerPage=10&checkDate=&checkKey=&srchType=1&numDays=3500&srchOpt=0&srchData=&keywordType=All&chkNewsType=1%2C+2%2C+3%2C+4%2C+5&intPage=&showAll=&pYear=&year=&desc=&cboOrder=date>
As NOPR announced on April 3, 2009, CMS has expanded coverage for the use of PET
for initial treatment strategy evaluation (formerly diagnosis and initial
staging) of patients with nearly all cancer types, and also will allow for use
of PET in subsequent treatment strategy evaluations (formerly restaging,
detection of suspected recurrence and treatment monitoring) for an expanded
number of cancer types. However, for certain other cancers, the use of PET in
initial treatment strategy evaluations and, particularly, in subsequent
treatment strategy evaluations will still be covered by CMS only if patients are
enrolled in an approved clinical trial or registry such as the NOPR
April 3, 2009
NOPR Update: Changes to NOPR Patient Registration and Data Entry Procedures
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new coverage policy for oncologic PET scans < http://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?id=218>. NOPR has updated its data collection procedures to comply with this directive. Under this new policy, CMS has expanded coverage for the use of PET for initial treatment strategy evaluation (formerly diagnosis and initial staging) of patients with nearly all cancer types, and also will allow for use of PET in subsequent treatment strategy evaluations (formerly restaging, detection of suspected recurrence and treatment monitoring) for an expanded number of cancer types. However, for certain other cancers, the use of PET in initial treatment strategy evaluations and, particularly, in subsequent treatment strategy evaluations will still be covered by CMS only if patients are enrolled in an approved clinical trial or registry. The NOPR has obtained CMS approval to continue its data collection to allow for coverage of PET scans performed for these cancers and indications under this successor “coverage with evidence development” (CED) program.
In compliance with the new coverage policy, NOPR will launch a new version of the registry on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 9:00 AM ET. Access to the new registry will be through the current web site at http://www.cancerPETregistry.org. The new registry portal is identified as NOPR 2009 and the old registry portal is identified as NOPR 2006. The following guidelines are provided to assist you in this transition:
New Facilities and New Patient Registrations
- All new patients will be registered in the new database (NOPR 2009).
- New facility registrations will only be accepted via the new database (NOPR 2009).
- Most of the data collection questions are the same or similar to the questions in the original registry, but there are some important differences, especially for PET studies being done for treatment monitoring. On Monday April 6th, facilities should download and review the new Operations Manual and new case report forms (CRFs), and the slightly revised Patient and Referring Physician Information Sheets (consent forms) that are available on the NOPR Web site. The new Pre-PET Form and Patient Information Sheet is available now at <http://nrdr.acr.org/PETRegistry/prePETwithConsent.pdf>
- The new registry will require the referring physician to sign both the Pre-PET and the Post-PET forms submitted for each patient attesting to the accuracy of the data on the forms.
Previously Registered Patients
- Data for patients previously entered into the NOPR will continue to be stored and accessed through the 2006 Version.
- Patients currently registered in NOPR who had their PET performed on or before April 3, 2009 will remain in the current registry database (NOPR 2006) and their data will continue to be entered in that database. This will allow for data collection on open cases and report generation on all cases with scan completion dates prior to April 3, 2009.
- For patients registered in the current database (NOPR 2006) who did not have PET performed on or before April 3, 2009, the case registration should be cancelled and the patient should be re-registered in the new database (NOPR 2009). To be clear, the PET facility is responsible for canceling and re-registering these patients. Credits that are applied to accounts in NOPR 2006 after April 3, 2009 will be transferred to the facility’s account in NOPR 2009.
Escrowed Funds
- All facility information and escrow balances will be transferred from the original database (NOPR 2006) to the new database (NOPR 2009). Facility staff who have been entering patients on the existing database will be able to enter new patients on the new database immediately.
OUTLINE OF NEW CMS COVERAGE POLICY (for further detail see the Indications Table summarizing coverage) <http://nrdr.acr.org/PETRegistry/indications.pdf>.
Initial Treatment Strategy
PET performed as part of an evaluation for determination of an initial treatment strategy (formerly diagnosis and initial staging) is covered by CMS as an approved indication for PET with specific exceptions
PET is explicitly not covered by CMS for initial treatment strategy evaluation for three specific cancer types/indications: 1) diagnosis and axillary nodal staging of breast cancer; 2) assessment of regional lymph nodes in melanoma; and 3) diagnosis of prostate cancer and initial staging of newly diagnosed prostate cancer.
However, PET for initial treatment strategy evaluation is covered only with participation in the NOPR for certain patients with suspected or proven cervical cancer and for patients with suspected or proven leukemia.
Note, PET is covered only in clinical situations in which (1) the PET results may assist in avoiding an invasive diagnostic procedure, or in which (2) the PET results may assist in determining the optimal anatomical location to perform an invasive diagnostic procedure. In general, for most solid tumors, a tissue diagnosis is made prior to doing a PET scan and therefore the scan is performed for staging rather than diagnosis.
PET is not covered as a screening test (i.e., testing patients without specific signs and symptoms of disease).
Subsequent Treatment Strategy
PET is also a CMS-covered service when used in subsequent treatment strategy evaluation (formerly restaging, detection of suspected recurrence, and treatment monitoring) of patients with the following cancers: breast, cervix, colorectal, esophageal, head and neck, lymphoma, melanoma, myeloma, non-small cell lung, ovary, and thyroid. For all other cancers, PET coverage for subsequent treatment strategy evaluation requires participation in this registry.
PET is covered for restaging and detection of suspected recurrences:
- after completion of treatment for the purpose of detecting residual disease; or
- for detecting suspected recurrence or metastasis; or
- to determine the extent of a known recurrence:
- if it could potentially replace one or more conventional imaging studies when it is expected that conventional study information is insufficient for the clinical management of the patient.
- Restaging applies to testing after a course of treatment is completed, and is covered subject to the conditions above.
Comment: As noted above, PET is not covered as a screening test (i.e., testing patients without specific signs and symptoms of disease) and thus is not covered for surveillance of patients treated for cancer in whom there is no clinical reason to suspect recurrent disease.
Treatment monitoring refers to use of PET to monitor tumor response to treatment during the planned course of therapy (i.e., when a change in therapy is anticipated).
Comment: As an example, PET performed under NOPR may be covered for monitoring after 2 or 3 of a planned 6 cycles of chemotherapy in a patient considered not to be responding as expected.
April 2, 2009
NOPR Update: NOPR Announcement Regarding Coverage Change Implementation
In January 2009, CMS proposed significant changes regarding Medicare's coverage of PET imaging, including those PET studies currently covered only with participation in the Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) program managed by the NOPR (see http://www3.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp?id=218). It is expected that Medicare will publish its final National Coverage Determination (NCD) within the next few days and the new policy will become effective on the day it is published.
According to the proposed decision memorandum, Medicare will provide coverage on a routine basis for many of the cancers and indications now reimbursed under NOPR. However, other cancers and indications would be covered only under a successor CED program that would need to be somewhat different than the current NOPR program.
NOPR has developed a successor program, NOPR 2009, that we believe will meet the requirements of the new NCD. However, until the new NCD is published, we will not be able to verify that the new NOPR program has been approved by CMS as a new CED program.
Accordingly, when the new NCD is published NOPR will:
- Keep the current site operational until midnight (ET) on the publication date for sites to register and enter pre-PET data for cases that were scanned earlier on that day.
- Send out a broadcast announcement to all NOPR users outlining the changes in NOPR and in Medicare coverage for PET.
- At midnight ET, close the current NOPR web site for new entries and temporarily close it for data collection.
- Within 12 to 72 hours, depending upon when the NCD is published, open a new site (NOPR 2009) for entry of cases eligible under the new criteria, and re-open the old site (NOPR 2006) for data entry on cases still in progress under the old program. Note that the planned successor CED program (NOPR 2009) will require the use of revised pre- and post-PET forms to be completed by the referring physician and slightly revised Patient and Referring Physician Information Sheets (consent forms).
Since we do not know when the NCD will be published, we recommend that sites adopt the following procedures:
- For the next few days, wait until a patient appears for his/her scan to register the patient in the current NOPR system.
[ Whether a patient will need to be registered and have data collected in the NOPR 2006 system or the NOPR 2009 system depends on the date of service (i.e., the date of the PET scan). In other words, if a patient is registered in NOPR 2006, but not scanned until after NOPR 2009 is operational, the old registration would need to be cancelled and the patient would need to be re-registered in the new system.]
- If a patient must be scanned while NOPR is closed for patient entry, complete the paper version of the case registration form and the new Pre-PET Form and fax them to NOPR Headquarters.
- As soon as the registry reopens, download the new versions of the case report forms, Patient Information Sheet, Referring Physician Information Sheet, and Operations Manual from the Web site.
- Begin using the new forms for cases entered into NOPR 2009 and continue using the old forms for cases previously entered into NOPR 2006 (for which all data collection has not yet been completed).
Although the new coverage policy will be effective on the day it is published, Medicare Contractors are allowed at least 30 days to implement required changes in their claims processing software, and in their local coverage policies.
February 20, 2009
NOPR Update: Update on Future PET Coverage under NOPR
This is an update regarding changes that are underway regarding Medicare's coverage of PET imaging under NOPR. On January 6, 2009, CMS proposed significant changes to current coverage (see http://www3.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp?id=218). Under the proposal, Medicare will provide coverage on a routine basis for many of the indications now reimbursed under NOPR. However, other indications would be covered only under a successor Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) program which likely will be somewhat different than the current NOPR program.
Medicare will publish its final coverage statement on or before April 6, 2009. The new policy becomes effective on the day it is published. The NOPR believes it should be possible to have a successor CED program in place when the NCD is published. However, until the day the new NCD is published, we will not know the details of the final coverage policy, whether any new codes or modifiers must be used for claims, nor whether a successor NOPR program has been cleared by CMS.
Although the new coverage policy will be effective on the day it is published, Medicare Contractors are allowed at least 30 days to implement required changes in their claims processing software, and in their local coverage policies.
Each site should closely monitor NOPR communications, and be prepared for coverage changes on the date the final coverage decision is issued. In the past, when major coverage or fee schedule changes occurred, some providers have held claims until their contractors have implemented the new edits. As soon as additional information becomes available, we will make it available to participating PET facilities via these e-mail announcements and the NOPR website.
January 07, 2009
NOPR Update: CMS released their preliminary PET coverage Decision
On Tuesday, January 6, 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their preliminary PET Coverage Decision in response to a written request submitted by the NOPR (National Oncologic PET Registry) asking that it reconsider the current National Coverage decision on FDG-PET to provide coverage for diagnosis, staging and restaging for all cancers and end the data collection requirements for these indications. The request was made based upon analysis of the NOPR data for which key results were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in May 2008.
The NOPR is reviewing the proposed coverage decision carefully and will communicate information as it becomes available to participating PET facilities about its potential impact on the continuation and type of data collection to be performed by the NOPR. For now, NOPR operations continue unchanged.
There are two critical draft decisions that are included:
1). CMS Expands Coverage for the Initial Treatment Strategy
CMS proposes that the evidence is adequate to determine that the results of FDG PET imaging are useful in determining the appropriate initial treatment strategy for patients with suspected solid tumors. Therefore, CMS will cover one FDG PET study for patients who have solid tumors that are biopsy proven or strongly suspected based on other diagnostic testing when the patient’s physician determines FDG PET is critical to determine the location and/or extent of the tumor for the following therapeutic purposes:
- To determine whether or not the beneficiary is an appropriate candidate for an invasive diagnostic or therapeutic procedure; or
- To determine the optimal anatomic location for an invasive procedure; or
- To determine the anatomic extent of tumor when the recommended anti-tumor treatment reasonably depends on the extent of the tumor.
2). CMS Continues to Restrict Coverage on the Subsequent Treatment Strategy and Proposes New Coverage Framework.
CMS proposes, for tumors other than the nine currently cover tumors: breast, cervix, colorectal, esophagus, head and neck, lymphoma, melanoma, non-small cell lung, and thyroid, that the available evidence is not adequate to determine that FDG PET imaging improves physician decision making in the determination of subsequent anti-tumor treatment strategy.
Also, CMS proposes to transition the current framework- diagnosis, staging, restaging and monitoring- into the initial treatment and subsequent treatment strategy framework while maintaining current coverage. See the below Appendix A of the draft decision for a summation of the effects of these changes.
Appendix A: Effect of Coverage Changes on Oncologic Uses of FDG PET
|
|
Current
Framework
|
|
Proposed Framework
|
|
Solid
Tumor Type
|
Diagnosis
|
Staging
|
Restaging
|
Monitoring
|
Initial Treatment *
|
Subsequent Treatment **
|
|
Brain
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
Breast (female and male)
|
N/C
|
1
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
1
|
Cover
|
|
Cervix
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Colorectal
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Esophagus
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Head & Neck (not thyroid or
CNS)
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Lymphoma
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Melanoma
|
Cover
|
2
|
Cover
|
CED
|
2
|
Cover
|
|
Non-small cell lung
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
CED
|
Cover
|
Cover
|
|
Ovary
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
Pancreas
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
Prostate
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
N/C
|
CED
|
|
Small cell lung
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
Soft Tissue Sarcoma
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
Thyroid
|
CED
|
CED
|
3
|
CED
|
Cover
|
3
|
|
Testes
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
|
All other
solid tumors
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
CED
|
Cover
|
CED
|
* Formerly “diagnosis” and “staging”
** Formerly “restaging” and “monitoring response to treatment when a change in treatment is anticipated”
N/C = noncover
(1) Breast: Covered for initial staging of metastatic disease. Noncovered for initial staging of axillary lymph nodes.
(2) Melanoma: Noncovered for initial staging of regional lymph nodes
(3) Thyroid: Covered for restaging of follicular cell types
To review the full report click (http://www1.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp?from2=viewdraftdecisionmemo.asp&id=218&)
November 20, 2008
NOPR Update: Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scans Found to Play Significant Role in Altering Cancer Patients’ Treatment Plan
Physicians participating in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) reported changing the treatment plan for 43.1 % of their patients undergoing cancer treatment as the result of information gained from a PET scan. Data were analyzed for PET scans performed through the NOPR program specifically for monitoring cancer therapy. According to results published online November 17 in the journal Cancer (see http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121520044/abstract), the major changes physicians made in the intended management of their cancer patients as a result of the PET scan included: 1) changing to another chemotherapy agent, 2) changing the mode of therapy, or 3) changing the current dose or duration of therapy.
Currently, PET imaging is not considered the standard of care for monitoring the affects of cancer therapy and, therefore, is not paid for by most insurance companies. However, under Medicare’s NOPR program launched in May 2006, the agency began paying for PET (and PET integrated with computed tomography) scans for the purpose of cancer treatment monitoring.
Study data were analyzed for 8,240 patients who had 10,497 treatment-monitoring PET scans performed at 946 imaging centers to monitor chemotherapy alone (82% of scans), radiation therapy alone (6% of scans), or combined chemo-radiation therapy (12% of scans). The authors reported the treating physicians altered their patients’ intended care by switching to another chemotherapy agent as a result of approximately 26.5% of the PET scans performed and were prompted to adjust the dose or duration of treatment as a result of approximately 16.5% of the scans performed.
Overall, the treating physician judged the patient’s prognosis as a result of the PET scan was better or improved for 42.1% of scans, unchanged for 31.5% of scans, and worse for 26.4% of scans. “The referring physician’s assessment of prognosis in light of the PET findings was associated strongly with changes in the management”, said Bruce Hillner, M.D., lead author for the study and professor and eminent university scholar in the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. “We also learned that these modifications occur predominantly after scans in which PET demonstrates more extensive disease than what was anticipated.”
Co-author Barry Siegel, MD, professor of radiology and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Washington University’s Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, commented, “Using PET to monitor cancer treatment appears to have broad benefit as we found that the change in a patient’s intended treatment didn’t significantly differ for those patients whose scans indicated local and regional disease versus those with metastatic disease.”
Previous published NOPR studies, reported physicians changed the intended care of more than one in three cancer patients as a result of a PET scan performed for the purpose of cancer diagnosis, staging, restaging and recurrence and that these changes are consistent across cancer types and reasons for ordering the exam.
The NOPR was established in response to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) novel “Coverage with Evidence” policy to collect data through a clinical registry to inform the center’s FDG-PET coverage determination decisions for currently non-covered cancer indications. The project is sponsored by the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) and managed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the ACR Imaging Network (ACRIN). For more information about the NOPR, go to www.cancerPETregistry.org.
November 10, 2008
NOPR Update: PET Impact Found to be Consistent across Cancer Types and Imaging Indications
Information provided by positron emission tomography (PET) was found to affect how clinicians manage their cancer patients’ care regardless of the cancer type and reason for ordering this imaging scan, according to results from the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR), published online November 7 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Earlier this year, the study authors reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology aggregate data contributed to the NOPR during year one of operation that demonstrated clinicians changed the intended care of more than one in three cancer patients as the result of PET scan findings.
After two years of operation, with nearly twice the data for analysis, the authors found the impact of PET to be strikingly consistent for a wide range of cancers and indications.
For this follow on NOPR study, researchers analyzed data for 40,863 PET studies performed at 1,368 facilities participating in the NOPR nationwide during the registry’s first two years of operation. The impact of PET was assessed for 18 cancer types in patients with pathologically confirmed cancer and for indication for testing that included initial cancer staging (14,365 scans), restaging (14,584 scans), or detection of suspected cancer recurrence (11,914 scans).
“For the purposes of guiding clinical practice and shaping coverage policy, it is important to determine the relative effects of PET for different cancer types and indications for testing,” said Bruce Hillner, M.D., lead author for the study and professor and eminent university scholar in the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. “These results strongly indicate the utility of PET for managing cancer patient care across a broad spectrum of cancer types and imaging indications.”
The NOPR was launched in May 2006 in response to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) novel “Coverage with Evidence” policy to collect data through a clinical registry to inform the center’s FDG-PET coverage determination decisions for currently non-covered cancer indications. The project is sponsored by the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) and managed by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the ACR Imaging Network (ACRIN). For more information about the NOPR, go to www.cancerPETregistry.org.
The article is available at: http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/49/12/1928.
July 24, 2008
NOPR Update: Denial of Claims with the Q0 Modifier
As previously announced, the NOPR investigators and staff have received reports that NOPR claims using the newly implemented Q0 (zero) modifier are reportedly being denied by some carriers incorrectly because the CMS-1500 claim form does not include an eight-digit clinical trial number or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) number in item 23 of the claim form.
The NOPR investigators have now learned that providers who submitted some of the denied claims have incorrectly included information (e.g., “NOPR”) in item 23 of the CMS-1500 form or its electronic equivalent. This apparently has resulted in the claims being denied. If you have claims denied for this reason the claims can be corrected and resubmitted.
All NOPR claims should be billed with the Q0 (zero) modifier. Do not place any additional information in item 23 of the CMS-1500 form or its electronic equivalent when billing NOPR claims. This field already has several uses, including billing Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) numbers on claims that require an IDE number. Adding information to this field for NOPR services billed with the Q0 (zero) modifier may result in incorrect denial of claims. The Q0 (zero) modifier is also used on IDE claims as well as for other investigational services.
To determine when item 23 information needs to be included on your claim, you can visit the CMS website (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/manuals/downloads/clm104c26.pdf) and go to pages 13-14.
Additional information should be placed in item 19 or its electronic equivalent.
Related Items:
CMS Posts Instructions for NOPR QR Deletion – Effective January 1, 2008 Use Q0 (zero)
http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=7259&RPID=277&Archive=1
July 21, 2008
NOPR Update: CMS Convenes MedCAC Panel
On March 25, 2008, The NOPR Working Group submitted a formal request to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS),
asking that it reconsider the current National Coverage decision on FDG-PET, provide coverage for diagnosis, staging and restaging
for all cancers, end the data collection requirements for these indications. The NOPR Working Group further requested that the
registry continue to collect data for treatment monitoring PET studies.
On April 10, 2008, CMS initiated its review of this request and has convened a Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory
Committee (MedCAC) panel that will meet in Baltimore on August 20, 2008.
For additional information about the MedCAC panel meeting see https://www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewtrackingsheet.asp?id=218.
July 14, 2008
NOPR Update: Denial of Claims with the Q0 Modifier
On Friday January 18, 2008, CMS released Transmittal R1418CP, CR 5805
notifying PET facilities and Medicare Administrator Contractors
that the discontinued QR (and QA) HCPCS modifiers are replaced by the new modifier Q0 (zero) to identify investigational and routine
clinical services provided in a clinical research study approved by Medicare.
Specifically, effective for dates of service (DOS) on or after January 1, 2008, modifier QR currently used in the National Oncologic
PET Registry (NOPR) is replaced with modifier Q0 (Zero). Additionally, QA is also replaced by Q0.
Please be advised that the NOPR investigators and staff have received reports from participating PET facilities that NOPR claims
using the newly implemented Q0 (Zero) modifier may be denied because the CMS 1500 claim form does not include an eight-digit clinical
trial number or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) number in item 23 of the claim form.
The Medicare Monthly Review MMR 2008-2, page 71-73 states; NOTE: If a Category A or B investigational device is used on the clinical trial,
providers should continue to include the Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) in item 23 of the CMS 1500 claim form or the
electronic equivalent. Also, your Medicare contractor will validate the IDE# number when it appears on the claim with the Q0
modifier and if the IDE# does not meet validation criteria, the claim will be returned as unprocessable.
The NOPR investigators and staff have communicated with the several of the Medicare medical review contractors to resolve this confusion
and delayed claims processing. The issue arises because of the dual use of the Q0 modifier for both NOPR claims and registered clinical
trial/investigational device claims. Most of the contractors have resolved this issue, however we continue to hear reports of denied
claims because of the missing clinical trial number or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) number.
In an attempt to assist participating PET facilities, consultants to the NOPR have recommended that sites participating in NOPR
take the following actions if denials occur for this reason:
Contact your Medicare Customer Service Contact Center; inform the customer service representative (1) that this is a NOPR patient claim,
and not a claim related to a registered clinical trial or an investigational device under an IDE, and (2) that, therefore there is NO
number to report to the contractor for item 23 of the CMS 1500 claim form. If necessary send the link to the NOPR web site
(www.cancerpetregistry.org) to the customer service representative.
If your issues remain unresolved after discussion with the customer service representative, please be sure to obtain the name of the customer
service representative, and record the the date and time you called. Then send your facility name, the Medicare Contractor, the State,
the name of the customer service representative, and the contact date and time to NOPR staff by e-mail at pet_registry@phila.acr.org,
and we will try to assist you in the resolution of the issue.
April 9, 2008
NOPR Billing Alert: Q0 Modifier Operational
As previously announced, claims with a DOS after January 1, 2008 must be
coded with the Q0 modifier. The implementation date for providers was
April 7th so facilities may now submit their claims to their providers.
On Friday January 18, 2008, CMS released Transmittal R1418CP, CR 5805
notifying PET facilities and Medicare Administrator Contractors that the
discontinued QR (and QA) and QV HCPCS modifiers are replaced by the new
modifiers Q0 (zero) and Q1, respectively, to identify investigational
and routine clinical services provided in a clinical research study
approved by Medicare. These two new modifiers are included in the 2008
Annual HCPCS Level II Update.
Specifically, effective for dates of service (DOS) on or after January
1, 2008, modifier QR currently used in the National Oncologic PET
Registry (NOPR) is replaced with modifier Q0 (Zero). Additionally, QA
is also replaced by Q0 and QV is replaced by Q1. CMS gave the
contractors until April 7, 2008 to implement these changes.
Claims with a DOS prior to January 1, 2008 should continue to be
submitted with the QR modifier.
March 23, 2008
NOPR Update: NOPR Confirms that FDG-PET Has Major Impact on Cancer Patient Management
National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) Data Confirm FDG-PET Has Major
Impact on Management of Cancer Patient Care
Philadelphia - Clinicians changed the intended care of more than one in
three cancer patients as the result of FDG-PET scan findings, according
to a study of data from the National Oncologic PET Registry, published
online March 24 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (JCO) (see
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/reprint/JCO.2007.14.5631v1 and the
acconpanying editorial at
http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/reprint/JCO.2007.15.6935v1).
[The NOPR article and the accompanying editorial were published in the print edition of JCO on May 1, 2008; see http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/26/13/2155 and http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/full/26/13/2083, respectively.]
The study analyzed data regarding nearly 23,000 patients contributed to
the NOPR by more than 1200 facilities nationwide providing positron
emission tomography (PET) scans.
"The NOPR working group sought to measure the impact of PET findings on
patient management in a manner minimally intrusive to care providers.
This was critical for successfully collecting the large amount of data
required for a robust analysis," said Bruce Hillner, M.D., lead author
for the study and professor and eminent university scholar in the
Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Sponsored by the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) and managed by the
American College of Radiology (ACR) and the ACR Imaging Network (ACRIN),
the NOPR was designed to collect questionnaire data from referring
physicians on intended patient management before and after a FDG-PET
scan
The NOPR participating PET facility collects from referring physicians
both a pre-PET questionnaire (documenting study indication, cancer type
and anticipated stage, and planned management if PET were not available)
and one of several post-PET questionnaires that assess the referring
physician's planned management in light of the FDG-PET findings.
Analysis of data collected found that FDG-PET is associated with a 36.5%
change in the decision of whether or how to treat a patient's cancer.
NOPR working group co-chair R. Edward Coleman, MD, professor of
radiology and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at Duke
University School of Medicine and an AMI founding member, comments, "We
were especially surprised by the impact of the PET findings on patients
who were originally planned to have a biopsy. The procedure was avoided
in approximately three-quarters of these patients."
The NOPR was launched in May 2006 in response to the Center for Medicare
and Medicaid Services' (CMS) novel "Coverage with Evidence Development"
policy to collect data through a clinical registry to inform the
center's FDG-PET coverage determination decisions for currently
non-covered cancer indications.
Cancer types Medicare currently covers for reimbursement only through
the NOPR include those of the ovary, uterus, prostate, pancreas,
stomach, kidney and bladder. (For a complete list of NOPR covered
cancer types and indications, go to the Indications Page.)
Oncologist and NOPR working group co-chair, Anthony Shields, MD,
professor of medicine and oncology at the Karmanos Cancer Institute at
Wayne State University and chair of ACRIN's Oncology Committee says of
the research results, "These results confirm what we suspected from
increasing experience with PET. However, we lacked the significant data
required to prove the benefit of PET for many uncovered indications.
It's very encouraging that oncologists and other clinicians may have
access to the valuable information PET affords for ensuring the best
patient care."
NOPR has formally asked CMS to reconsider the current National Coverage
decision on FDG-PET and to end the data collection requirements for
diagnosis, staging and restaging. Medicare will review the published
data and determine the next steps related to reimbursement for PET scans
now only covered through the NOPR. Barry Siegel, MD, FACR, professor of
radiology and chief of the Division of Nuclear Medicine at the
Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University and chair
of ACRIN's PET Imaging Core Laboratory, also serves as an NOPR working
group co-chair. "Based on these data, Medicare should strongly consider
opening up the coverage to include diagnosis, staging and restaging for
all cancers, states Dr Siegel."
The ACR and ACRIN worked to develop the NOPR in collaboration with
registry sponsor, the Academy for Molecular Imaging since CMS announced
its intent to support a PET registry in January 2005. The American
Society of Clinical Oncology and the Society for Nuclear Medicine also
have played key roles in guiding the project's development.
February 29, 2008
NOPR Billing Alert: CMS Posts Instructions Regarding Deletion of QR Modifier used for NOPR Claims - Effective January 1, 2008 Use Q0 Modifier
On Friday January 18, 2008, CMS released Transmittal R1418CP, CR 5805
notifying PET facilities and Medicare Administrator Contractors that the
discontinued QR (and QA) and QV HCPCS modifiers are replaced by the new
modifiers Q0 (zero) and Q1, respectively, to identify investigational
and routine clinical services provided in a clinical research study
approved by Medicare. These two new modifiers are included in the 2008
Annual HCPCS Level II Update. The CR 5805 instructions are to be
implemented by the Medicare Contractors no later than April 7, 2008.
Specifically, effective for dates of service (DOS) on or after January
1, 2008, modifier QR currently used in the National Oncologic PET
Registry (NOPR) is replaced with modifier Q0 (Zero). Additionally, QA
is also replaced by Q0 and QV is replaced by Q1. CMS has given the
contractors until April 7, 2008 to implement these changes; however, we
anticipate that some contractors might be ready to accept these claims
sooner. PET facilities are encouraged to update their charge-masters to
include theses new modifiers. While all contractors are required to
accept claims with the new modifiers as of April 7th, facilities are
advised to check with their local contractors to ascertain the exact
date the contractors' systems will be ready to process claims.
Claims with a DOS prior to January 1, 2008 should continue to be
submitted with the QR modifier.
The NOPR investigators and staff are fully aware that participating PET
facilities are understandably distressed by CMS' announcement late in
2007 that the QR modifier was being eliminated at the end of the year
and that the new modifier would not be implemented until early in April
2008. We have expressed our concerns to CMS, but unfortunately that is
all we could do, as these changes were entirely beyond our control.
December 31, 2007
NOPR BILLING ALERT - QR Modifier Deleted Effective 2008
The QR modifier used in conjunction with CPT and HCPCS codes to submit
NOPR claims on the Medicare billing forms is deleted as of January 1,
2008. If you submit the QR modifier on or after January 1, 2008, your
claims may reject. Additionally, following HIPPA rules, providers are
required to use accurate coding for that date of service. CMS has not
published the new billing instructions yet; therefore, PET facilities
may want to consider holding NOPR claims until the CMS instructions are
available. We will post the new information as soon as it is publicly
available. We will also send out an alert once the transmittal is
posted.
November 03, 2007
NOPR Update: Design & Analysis Plan Paper Published
The design and analysis plan of the National Oncologic PET Registry
(NOPR) has been published in the November 1st issue of the Journal of
Nuclear Medicine. It is available at:
http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/48/11/1901?etoc.
The paper, "The National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR): Design and
Analysis Plan," provides insight into the NOPR's development, workflow,
and statistical design. It also details how the data collected by the
over 1600 participating PET facilities will be evaluated and reported to
the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).
November 2, 2007
NOPR Update: Covered Indications
On August 23, 2006, the NOPR investigators reported that we had noted a
number of studies included in the NOPR for which the type of cancer and
the indication for the PET scan potentially should be covered by
Medicare outside of the conditions of the registry. Nearly 4% of studies
reported to the NOPR met these criteria at that time, and the types of
problems encountered were reviewed in detail (see 8/15/07 News entry).
We have continued to monitor the frequency of such cases in the NOPR and
are still finding that such cases are being included, with relatively
little change in the frequency since our prior notification
From a practical point of view, the results of our continued monitoring
suggest that PET facilities still need to carefully review all clinical
requests for PET in Medicare patients to determine whether the study is
routinely covered or covered only under NOPR. Ultimately, it is up to
the PET facility to make certain that it is submitting correct claims to
Medicare. Please note that patients should not be registered in the
NOPR for a covered indication because the ICD-9 code provided by the
referring physician does not support medical necessity per the carrier's
local coverage determination. [One recent example that has come to our
attention is the denial of claims, by one carrier, submitted with ICD-9
codes 202.90 - 202.98 ("other and unspecified malignant neoplasms of
lymphoid and histocytic tissue") for PET or PET/CT for lymphoma staging
or restaging. Our advice in such cases is to check with the referring
physician to determine whether a more precise ICD-9 code can be provided
based on the pathologic classification of the lymphoma.] Such studies
can be performed, and the claim appealed for medical necessity if it is
rejected. If it is consistent with your facility's policy, patients can
be asked to sign an Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) under these
circumstances.
Additionally, we are aware that some carriers have imposed frequency
limitations for certain PET or PET/CT studies done for covered
indications. Registering patients who have exceeded the established
frequency edits/limitations in the NOPR is not an appropriate way to
overcome these frequency limitations. Review your local carrier's
guidelines for the appropriate way to appeal these claim denials.
Again, such patients can be requested to sign an ABN.
Please contact the NOPR investigators or staff at
pet_registry@phila.acr.org if you would like further clarification of
any of the issues addressed in this announcement.
September 20, 2007
NOPR Update: Referring Physician's Responsibilities for NOPR
Participation
Under the terms of the CMS Coverage Policy for oncologic indications
included in the NOPR, a beneficiary's PET study is eligible for CMS
reimbursement only if the Pre-PET Form is completed and returned to the
PET facility prior to the PET scan and the Post-PET Form is completed
and returned within 30 days of the PET scan. The data collection forms
consist of approximately 5 questions regarding the beneficiary's planned
management and must be completed by the beneficiary's referring
physician.
The obligations for the referring physician are found in the NOPR
Operations Manual and Frequently Asked Questions section (see
http://www.cancerpetregistry.org/clinicians.htm). In order to ensure
the accuracy of the NOPR data, the referring physician has the
obligation to provide the answer to the intended management question and
review any responses prepared by ancillary personnel. The PET Forms can
be returned to the PET facility via FAX, mail, or hand delivery with all
entries completed and verified.
The Pre- and Post-PET Forms properly completed by the beneficiary's
referring physician represent the critical data being collected by the
NOPR, and failure to meet this obligation will jeopardize the quality of
the data collected by the NOPR. Please direct any questions concerning
this statement of referring physician responsibilities to NOPR staff by
email at pet.registry@phila.acr.org or by calling (215) 717-0859.
August 15, 2007
NOPR Update: NOPR RSNA 2007 Presentations
NOPR Presentations at the 2007 Annual Meeting of the
Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
The initial results of the NOPR will be presented by Dr. Bruce Hillner in an RSNA scientific session on Sunday, November 25. 2007. In that same session Dr. R. Edward Coleman will present an overview of the NOPR and its data collection methods.
Date: Sunday November 25
Session Time: 10:45 - 12:15 PM;
Room: E353C
In addition, Dr. Barry Siegel will present an update on NOPR activities
on Tuesday November 27, 2007 as part of the "RSNA Categorical Course in
Diagnostic Radiology: Clinical PET and PET/CT Imaging". Those
interested in this presentation should register for RSNA Refresher
Course RC411."
May 24, 2007
NOPR Update: IMPORTANT NOTICE - Recording of the Region Scanned on the PET Completion From
In December 2006, the data collection procedures of the NOPR were changed to allow us to capture more information about the PET imaging procedure. Specifically, after that date, PET facilities were required to note on the PET completion form which one of the following characterized the study performed:
- body PET or PET/CT only (examination billed with one CPT code in the range from 78811 through 78816);
- dedicated brain PET only (examination billed with CPT code 78608); or
- body PET or PET/CT AND dedicated brain PET (examination billed with one CPT code in the range from 78811 through 78816 AND with CPT code 78608).
The purpose of this additional data collection was to allow us to identify those cases in which brain PET was performed, so that we could analyze the impact of PET brain imaging on management of cancer patients.
After the institution of this new data collection requirement, we found
that the frequency of these three options was as follows: (1) body only
- 92%; (2) brain only - 1%; and (3) brain + body -7%. The frequency in
this latter category was considerably higher than we had expected, given
the rather narrow circumstances under which combined body and brain PET
imaging is indicated for patient management (see the guidance provided
by the Society of Nuclear Medicine Coding and Reimbursement Committee at
http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=5408&RPID=
1995).
To better understand how we would analyze the data in the third group
(and to understand why this combination was occurring so frequently), we
did a review of a random sample of the pre-PET forms and the PET reports
of 53 patients said to have had both body and brain PET. We found that
none of the reports described an indication for dedicated brain PET
imaging. Moreover, the descriptions of the technique of the PET studies
suggested that nearly all of the examinations were either skull-thigh
body imaging (with extension of the scan field to the skull vertex) or
whole-body imaging (vertex to toes). In fact, not a single report
clearly described that a separate, dedicated brain acquisition was
performed. If a dedicated brain PET study were done, this generally
would be expected to be documented in the report, because of different
patient preparation (uptake phase in a quiet dimly lit room), longer
imaging time (typically 5-15 minutes for 3D and 20-30 minutes for 2D
acquisition) usually with smaller pixel size (zoom), and different
interpretation strategies for cancer indications (e.g., comparison or
fusion with brain MRI).
Our findings suggest that one or more of the following problems may be
occurring. Suggested corrections are noted, as well.
- The individuals responsible for data entry at some PET facilities are answering this question on the Pre-PET Form incorrectly. We believe this is the most likely explanation in most of these cases. Accordingly, we request that staff at each PET facility review the procedures they are using to determine what specific PET procedures have actually been performed and will be billed to Medicare. In addition, we will be adding some further instructions about this on the PET Completion Form.
- The dedicated brain PET studies were reported separately from the body PET studies, but only the body PET reports were uploaded to the NOPR database. We think this is unlikely based on the reports reviewed. However, we are requesting that PET facilities upload both brain and body reports when both have been performed. We will add a reminder to this effect on the Web screen for PET Report Submission Form.
- The studies have been coded and billed incorrectly, e.g. the study was billed with CPT codes 78815 and 78608 when only billing for 78815 was justified based on the request from the referring physician and/or the technical details of the study performed and interpreted. If this is the case, it could present a compliance problem for the PET facility. Accordingly, we encourage staff at participating PET facilities to review their billing processes and the criteria they use to determine when to bill for dedicated brain PET. We further suggest that PET facilities forward a copy of this notice to individuals responsible for billing and compliance (and to the corresponding individuals in the physician practice, if professional-component billing is performed separately).
Finally, we are requesting that all participating PET facilities provide
the NOPR with corrected information for any of the cases that were
incorrectly designated as combined body/brain studies. This will need
to done for the period since we began collecting this data on December
16, 2006 until the present. Specifically, if a case entry was
designated as "Both Brain and Body PET" and should have correctly been
designated as "Body PET", we are requesting that you send an email
message to Sharon Hartson (shartson@phila.acr.org) with the following
information:
- your facility name;
- your facility number; and
- he case ID number(s) needing to be corrected.
If you are unable to identify cases that were coded incorrectly at your facility, you may send a request to Ms. Hartson, and she will send you a listing of all cases at your facility designated as "Both Brain and Body PET".
We hope this information is useful, and appreciate your cooperation in helping us to obtain the most accurate possible data for the NOPR.
The NOPR Working Group.
February 21, 2007
NOPR Update: Patient & Referring Physician Information Sheets
As is discussed in detail on the NOPR website
(http://www.cancerpetregistry.org/pdf/nopr_regulatory.pdf), the only
entity considered to be engaged in the research conducted by NOPR is the
NOPR itself. The NOPR investigators and staff are aware that some PET
facilities have elected to have their own institutional review boards or
privacy offices review the NOPR before the facility participates,
typically as a matter of institutional policy requiring such review.
The official NOPR Patient and Referring Physician Information Sheets
(available at http://www.cancerpetregistry.org/forms.htm) have been
approved by American College of Radiology Institutional Review Board,
and must be used as the primary vehicles for obtaining patient and
referring physician consent for use of NOPR data for research purposes.
Institutional consent documents cannot be substituted for the official
NOPR forms. However, if necessary, an addendum to the official NOPR
documents may be provided to patients and/or referring physicians to
incorporate any specific institutional requirements. For further
information or clarification regarding this policy, please contact NOPR
staff at pet_registry@phila.acr.org.
January 31, 2007
NOPR Update: Coding the Cancer Type on the Pre-PET Form
New instructions have been added to the Pre-PET Form and a new version has been posted to the NOPR Web site. The instructions for question 2.a Cancer Type (ICD-9 Code) state:
a. Cancer Type (ICD-9 Code) - check the one cancer that most closely relates to the specific reason for the PET study indicated in response to Question 1. (Check only one)
Note: The three-digit ICD-9 codes included on this form are for purposes of identifying the cancer type in the NOPR database, but the one selected is not necessarily the one that should be used for claim submission.
The revised Pre-PET Form also now includes a list of the ICD-9 codes that the database will accept if the "Other" box is checked for question 2.a.
Acceptable responses are 159, 165, 173, 181, 184, 192, 194, 195, and 235-238
We hope that this alleviates some of the questions that have arisen regarding the proper coding of the cancer type ID for the NOPR Pre-PET Form.
December 15, 2006
NOPR Update: Change to PET Completion Form
The PET Completion Form has been revised to capture information about the region(s) scanned for the PET study.
- New Question 3 added:
- 3. Region(s) Scanned (you must check only one)
- Body Only (CPT 78811-78816)
- Brain Only (CPT 78608)
- Both Body AND Brain (CPT 78811-78816 AND 78608)
- Original Question 3 renumbered as Question 4 and original Question 4 renumbered as Question 5.
October 22, 2006
NOPR Update: Consistency in the Completion of Pre-PET Forms
The purpose of this announcement is to request that PET facilities participating in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) routinely review their Pre-PET forms to ensure that the correct reason for the study has been selected. The rationale for this request is described below. If this review suggests that the reason selected might be incorrect, please contact the referring physician or his/her staff to verify that the response to this important question on the Pre-PET form is correct.
A quality assessment review of initial data submitted to the NOPR has identified inconsistencies in the completion of the Pre-PET forms with regard to the responses to one of the questions on the Pre-PET Form. This question (Question 1) asks for the specific reason for the PET or PET/CT study; the reasons are listed below:
- Diagnosis: To determine if a suspicious lesion is cancer
- Diagnosis/Unknown Primary Tumor: To detect a primary tumor site in a patient with a confirmed or strongly suspected metastatic lesion
- Diagnosis/Paraneoplastic: To detect a primary tumor site in a patient with a presumed paraneoplastic syndrome
- Initial Staging of histologically confirmed, newly diagnosed cancer
- Monitoring Treatment Response during treatment
- Restaging after completion of therapy
- Suspected Recurrence of a previously treated cancer
The most common error that we have identified is the selection of the "Diagnosis: To determine if a suspicious lesion is cancer" response on the Pre-PET Form, when the clinical PET report clearly shows that one of the other reasons is more likely. We believe that the inconsistency in selecting the appropriate response to this question occurs due to the incorrect assumption that since PET is a diagnostic test, the PET or PET/CT study is being performed for "diagnosis." The "Diagnosis: To determine if a suspicious lesion is cancer" response should be used ONLY for the initial diagnosis of a suspected cancer, and NOT for detection of a recurrence of a known cancer. The latter reason should be marked on the Pre-PET Form as "Suspected Recurrence of a previously treated cancer." Note that the Pre-PET form was recently modified to provide better definitions of the specific reasons for which PET examinations are requested. We anticipate this will help to reduce the frequency of these errors, but also request this review of submitted forms by participating PET facilities. If the correct reason for the study is not provided in Question 1, the evaluation of the NOPR data may result in incorrect conclusions about the impact of PET and PET/CT on patient management.
Thank you for your continuing support and interest in making NOPR a success.
October 7, 2006
NOPR Update: Changes to the PET Completion and PET Report Submission Forms and E-mail Reminders
- The PET Completion and the PET Report Submission Forms have been changed. The question asking the name of the interpreting radiologist has been moved from the PET Completion Form to the PET Report Submission Form. This change is intended to prevent delays in the submission of the PET Completion Form when the name of the interpreting radiologist is not known until the PET report is completed.
- As a further aid to the timely submission of time-critical data, due dates for future form submissions have been added to several of the e-mail reminders.
- Pre-PET Form Submission Confirmation - the due date for the PET Completion Form has been added to this e-mail.
- PET Form Reminder - the due date for the PET Completion Form has been added to this e-mail.
- Post PET Form Reminder - the due date for the Post-PET Form has been added to this e-mail.
September 26, 2006
NOPR Update: Potential Limitations of FDG-PET for Cancers and Indications Covered by NOPR and Changes to the Indications Table
The following changes have been made to the NOPR Indications Table that is available on the NOPR Web site and in the NOPR Operations Manual, Appendix III:
- A note concerning potential limitations of FDG-PET for cancers and indications covered by NOPR has been added:
- IMPORTANT NOTE: The scientific evidence concerning the clinical utility of FDG-PET is generally less robust for cancers and indications that are currently covered by Medicare only in the NOPR than for cancers and indications that are currently covered without clinical data submission to the NOPR. For this reason, Medicare has conditioned coverage of FDG-PET under the NOPR on the collection of clinical data. These data will be used to help determine the clinical utility of FDG-PET for conditionally covered cancers and indications. The billing physician remains responsible for documenting medical necessity, which is required for the coding and billing of both covered and NOPR-eligible PET studies. Eligibility for the NOPR does not constitute a clinical management recommendation for the use of PET for the conditionally covered cancers and indications, by either the Medicare program or NOPR investigators. Referring and interpreting physicians are thus advised to refer to the published literature to better understand the potential limitations of FDG-PET for NOPR-eligible uses.
- The entry for Male Breast Cancer has been changed to reflect its eligibility for inclusion into the NOPR, which is identical to that for Female Breast Cancer.
- The following footnote was added for Diagnosis of both Female and Male Breast Cancer:
- PET is non-covered for "Diagnosis" of breast cancer to evaluate a suspicious breast mass. However, a patient with suspected breast cancer is eligible for entry in NOPR for the indications (1) "Diagnosis: Unknown Primary Site" in a patient with axillary nodal metastasis but no evident primary breast cancer by conventional evaluation and (2) "Diagnosis: Paraneoplastic Syndrome".
- A footnote was added for Anal Cancer eligibility:
- Some Medicare carriers include anal cancer in their coverage of "colorectal cancer"; for PET facilities served by those carriers, PET for anal cancer diagnosis, initial staging, or restaging/suspected recurrence would be a covered indication.
- A General Note was added:
- GENERAL NOTE: PET imaging of the brain with CPT code 78608 for diagnosis, initial staging, treatment monitoring, or restaging/suspected recurrence of any type of cancer is covered only under NOPR.
September 13, 2006
NOPR Update: Empire Resolves NOPR Claims Processing Problems
The Society for Nuclear Medicine (SMN) has published information
regarding the resolution of NOPR claims denials (QR modifier issues) for
Empire CMS contractors on their Web site. For more information please go
to: http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=5507&RPID=10.
September 12, 2006
NOPR Update: Patient Charges
NOPR has received reports of PET facilities charging patients for the
$50 per-case NOPR registration fee at the time of the PET scan. This
practice is inconsistent with the NOPR registration requirements set
forth in the Operations Manual, and with the statute and regulations
governing the administration of the NOPR.
Neither the NOPR Operations Manual, the January 2005 CMS National
Coverage Determination announcing the NOPR, nor the statute and
regulations governing the Medicare program, authorizes providers to
charge the $50 per case registration fee to the Medicare beneficiaries
participating in the NOPR. The Medicare statute provides that the
program will pay 80% of the reasonable charges for covered services, and
establishes a beneficiary copayment of 20%. The NOPR Operations Manual
provides that facilities themselves shall pay the $50 per case fee
through an escrow account established with the NOPR. CMS and NOPR
administrators expect that facilities will bear this expense as a
routine cost of doing business, and will not pass the charge on to
patients.
September 8, 2006
NOPR Update: Changes to the Web Application
Several changes to the NOPR Web application will be implemented on Saturday, September 9th. The major changes are detailed below.
- Case Registration Form - Scan Date - You will once again be able to enter the correct date if the scan date is the date of case entry.
- Pre-PET Form - the ICD-9 code must be entered for all patients' whose cancer type (question 2a and 2c) is entered as "Other, or not listed." This was explained in greater detail in the NOPR Update of September 1, 2006 and the reminder sent on September 5, 2006.
- PET Report Submission Form - The entry of text of less than 500 characters in the text box for the PET report will cause a pop-up window to appear asking for confirmation that the complete PET report has been entered.
There may be some temporary downtime on Saturday morning when these
changes are being implemented. If you experience any problems please
send an email to pet_registry@phila.acr.org.
NOPR Update September 1, 2006
Pre-PET Form Changes
ICD-9 Codes for "Other or Not Listed" Responses to Questions 2a and 2c
A review of the NOPR data has revealed that "Other or Not Listed" is being selected as the response to questions 2a (or 2c) on the Pre-PET Form for cancer types (or metastatic disease sites) that are already listed in the question 2a and 2c code tables. For example, Other or Not Listed is selected, and the text entry indicates "Renal cell carcinoma"; in this case, the proper choice should have been "Kidney and Other Urinary Tract (189)". To ensure accurate responses to questions 2a and 2c, the Pre-PET form has now been modified to require entry of the first 3 digits of the ICD-9 code for all cancer types or metastatic disease sites entered as "Other or Not Listed" for question 2a or 2c. The application will notify the user if the ICD-9 code for an "Other or Not Listed" entry is already included in the corresponding code table for that question.
A new version of the Pre-PET Form that includes the ICD-9 code entries for questions 2a and 2c is now available on the NOPR Web site. To give sites adequate time to begin collecting this additional information from referring physicians, the on-line application will not immediately require entry of the ICD-9 code data. We will notify all facilities when entry of data in this field becomes mandatory. However, we encourage all sites to begin using the revised hard-copy version of the Pre-PET Form and make it available to referring physicians immediately. This will ensure that ICD-9 code data will be available for patients whose Pre-PET Form information is entered on or after the actual date of implementation.
New Instructions: Specific Reasons for PET Study, Pre-PET Form, Question 1
New instructions have been added to the Pre-PET Form to aid referring physicians in choosing the correct category for Question 1: Specific Reason For PET Study.
Revised Materials on NOPR Web Site
New versions of the NOPR Operations Manual and Case Report Forms are available on the NOPR Web site. They have been changed as indicated below.
Operations Manual
- Revised to emphasize that the PET Completion Form must be entered in the database within 14 days of case registration. Revised sections include: Schema, Section 7.0, and Appendix I.
Pre-PET Form
- A section, "Covered Indications for PET Scans and Limitations/Requirements for Usage," has been added to the instructions for question 1, "Specific Reason for PET Study."
- Question 2a and 2c revised to collect the ICD-9 code for all cancer types or metastatic disease sites entered as "Other or not listed."
NOPR Update August 28, 2006
Paraneoplastic Syndromes
The National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR) was designed to evaluate the
impact of PET and PET/CT on the ordering physicians' plans for intended
patient management. One use of PET being evaluated by the NOPR is its
role as a diagnostic tool in patients who present with so-called
paraneoplastic syndromes (see below). During an early review of the
data submitted to the NOPR, the investigators found that the reason for
the scan indicated on the Pre-PET Form was "Diagnosis/Paraneoplastic (To
detect a primary tumor site in a patient with a presumed paraneoplastic
syndrome)" in approximately 1.3% of all studies. A review of a sample
of such cases was undertaken to learn more about the specific types of
patients being referred for this indication. Based on an assessment of
PET reports, we found in nearly half of the reviewed cases that the PET
study was probably not ordered to evaluate a suspected paraneoplastic
syndrome. In addition to the potential impact of this problem on the
quality of the NOPR data used to evaluate this specific indication for
PET, it also could have practical implications for payment of PET
facilities for these studies. This is because most PET scans ordered
for "Diagnosis", including those ordered for indications currently
covered by Medicare, will be submitted for payment with an ICD-9 code
for a symptom or sign, rather than one for a diagnosed cancer. These
ICD-9 codes will generally not be in the list of codes that a carrier
designates as documenting the medical necessity of the PET study.
Hence, in many such cases, the claim is initially rejected for payment,
and is only paid on appeal if the study is judged to be medically
necessary. It is thus important to be sure that PET studies ordered for
"Diagnosis" are medically appropriate and that the rationale for the
study is clearly documented in the PET report.
To assist staff at PET facilities to evaluate studies requested for
"Diagnosis/Paraneoplastic", the following brief review of these
conditions is provided below.
Paraneoplastic Syndromes
Different cancers may produce signs and
symptoms at sites distant from the primary tumor or its metastases.
These signs and symptoms, including their laboratory test
manifestations, are referred to as paraneoplastic syndromes.
Paraneoplastic syndromes can be characterized by primary organ or system
affected: endocrine, hematological, gastrointestinal, renal, cutaneous
or neurological syndromes.
The two most frequent endocrine paraneoplastic syndromes are
hypercalcemia in cancer patients without known osseous metastases and
the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH).
The most common cause of hypercalcemia in patients with nonmetastatic
solid tumors and in some patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is
secretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP). Humoral
hypercalcemia should be suspected as the cause of hypercalcemia in any
patient with a solid tumor in the absence of bony metastases. It should
also be suspected in patients with otherwise unexplained hypercalcemia
and a low serum PTH concentration. Patients with PTHrP-induced
hypercalcemia typically have advanced cancer and a poor prognosis. Thus,
a nonmalignant disorder is more likely in a patient with chronic
hypercalcemia.
SIADH is a well-described syndrome most commonly associated with small
cell lung cancer (SCLC) and, less often, with non-small cell lung cancer
and head and neck cancers. SIADH is a diagnosis of exclusion. The
cardinal features of SIADH are water intoxication, hyponatremia, a
decreased serum osmolarity, and an inappropriate elevation of urine
osmolarity in a patient who is clinically euvolemic. In most
situations, identifying the primary cancer site is not difficult.
While anorexia and cachexia are universal problems in advanced cancer
patients, protein-losing enteropathies, defined as a disorder of
excessive loss of serum proteins into the GI tract, is an uncommon but
well defined paraneoplastic condition. AIDS-associated Kaposi sarcoma,
as well as Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia, and Hodgkin's and
non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are the most cancers causing protein-losing
enteropathy.
Renal manifestations of nonrenal cancer are much more often due to
treatment related toxicities (chemotherapy, radiation, antibiotics,
analgesics, and radiographic contrast) than paraneoplastic syndromes.
The two dominant forms of paraneoplastic syndromes are tubular
interstitial diseases in lymphomas and leukemias and membranous
nephropathy associated with most common solid tumors. Again, it is
infrequent that the renal paraneoplastic syndromes are the first
manifestation of a patient's cancer.
There are a wide variety of cutaneous syndromes that are associated with
malignancies; these may precede, be concurrent with, or follow the
discovery of the underlying malignancy. The initial evaluation of a
patient with a biopsy-confirmed skin condition associated with cancer is
a standard detailed history and physical examination with routine
laboratory testing and chest radiographs. Further specific testing
should be guided by an expert dermatologist.
Most cancer patients have some mild degree of neuromuscular dysfunction
usually in the form of myopathy or peripheral neuropathy. However for
most solid tumors, the incidence of paraneoplastic neurologic syndromes
is less than 1%.
The more common syndromes are Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome , which
affects about 3% of patients with SCLC, and myasthenia gravis, which
affects 15% of all patients with thymoma. The list of uncommon
neurologic syndromes is long including subacute cerebellar degeneration,
peripheral sensory and motor neuropathies, and encephalitis. Most of
these syndromes are due to an autoimmune reaction associated with a wide
variety of paraneoplastic autoantibodies. Paraneoplastic peripheral
neuropathies affect 5% to 15% of patients with plasma cell dyscrasias
associated with malignant monoclonal gammopathies. More than 50% of
patients with the rare osteosclerotic form of myeloma develop a
predominantly motor paraneoplastic peripheral neuropathy. Patients with
all forms of myeloma, but usually the osteosclerotic type, can develop a
severe, symmetric, sensorimotor neuropathy with muscle atrophy in
association with the POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly,
endocrinopathy, M protein, and skin).
Polymyositis, an inflammatory myopathy, that may be accompanied by skin
lesions (dermatomyositis) occurs as a paraneoplastic syndrome associated
with breast, lung, and GI tract cancers.
Role of PET and PET/CT in Paraneoplastic Syndrome
The role of PET and PET/CT in patients with paraneoplastic syndromes is still being evaluated. Several small studies have demonstrated that PET and PET/CT can detect an occult primary cancers as the cause of the paraneoplastic syndrome in some patients (1,2). Many patients with paraneoplastic syndromes have negative PET scans or false-positive PET scans (3). At this time, the NOPR Working Group does not recommend PET or PET/CT as the initial imaging procedure in a patient with paraneoplastic syndrome. For most suspected paraneoplastic syndromes, conventional imaging (e.g., CT) should be used first to detect an underlying malignancy. If the conventional evaluation is negative or equivocal, a PET or PET/CT scan may be indicated in an effort to detect an occult primary malignancy. If the CT scan is abnormal and suggests an etiology for the paraneoplastic syndrome, a PET or PET/CT scan may be indicated to confirm this finding, to find the most readily accessible tumor focus for biopsy confirmation, and to stage more completely the presumptive malignancy detected by CT.
References
- Berner U, Menzel C, Rinne D, et al. Paraneoplastic syndromes: detection of malignant tumors using [(18)F]FDG-PET. Q J Nucl Med 2003; 47:85-9.
- Rees JH, Hain SF, Johnson MR, et al. The role of [18F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose-PET scanning in the diagnosis of paraneoplastic neurological disorders. Brain 2001; 124: 2223-31.
- Younes-Mhennia S, Janier MF, Cinotti L, et al. FDG-PET improves tumour detection in patients with paraneoplastic neurological syndromes. Brain 2004; 127:2331-8.
NOPR Update August 23, 2006
Covered Indications
Based on an early review of the data coming into the NOPR, the NOPR
investigators have noted a number of studies for which the type of
cancer and the indication for the PET scan potentially should be covered
by Medicare outside of the conditions of the registry. Nearly 4% of
studies reported to the NOPR met these criteria. Because of this, the
NOPR investigators did a more complete audit of a random sample of these
studies, reviewing the Pre-PET Forms and the actual PET Reports. The
findings of this analysis are reported below.
Approximately 40% of these cases appear to be eligible for coverage by
Medicare outside of NOPR. An additional 26% of cases, obtained for
cancer diagnosis, also appear to be eligible for coverage by Medicare
outside of NOPR. However, the nature of these cases (based on the
clinical reports) is such that payment likely would have required a
medical necessity review/appeal after an initial rejection of the claim.
This is because it appeared that proper ICD-9 coding of these claims
would have required a "non-cancer" ICD-9 code as the reason the patient
was being referred for PET to diagnose cancer (for example, a patient
with lymphadenopathy being referred to diagnose suspected lymphoma).
In a few cases, we were unable to make a determination of eligibility
because the patients had anal cancer; some carriers consider anal cancer
as a covered indication (included in the colorectal cancer group), and
others do not (in those jurisdictions, anal cancer cases would need to
be registered to NOPR). In other cases, we were unable to make a
determination because the patients were undergoing initial staging for
cervical cancer, and the report did not indicate whether pre-PET CT or
MRI had been performed to document the absence of extrapelvic metastatic
disease (as is required for routine coverage).
In about 10% of cases, the report indicated that the patient had small
cell lung cancer, but the Pre-PET form incorrectly indicated that the
cancer type was non-small cell lung cancer.
In only about 10% of cases was it completely clear that the patient had
been correctly registered to NOPR.
From a practical point of view, the results of our audit suggest that
PET facilities need to carefully review all clinical requests for PET in
Medicare patients to determine whether the study is routinely covered or
covered only under NOPR. We are aware that many referring physicians
have begun to submit a Pre-PET form for all of their Medicare cases (to
save time just in case one may be required), but ultimately it is up to
the PET facility to make certain that it is submitting correct claims to
Medicare. We would greatly appreciate special attention by the staff at
PET facilities to the important distinction between small cell lung
cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.
We are considering making modifications to the data-entry software on
the NOPR web-site to alert users when they enter a cancer
type/indication pair on the Pre-PET Form that could be a routinely
covered indication. In addition, the Society of Nuclear Medicine will
soon issue some guidance regarding the appeals process for studies that
are rejected because they do not meet the carrier medical-necessity
(ICD-9 code) criteria. This guidance will apply both to routinely
covered indications and to studies done under NOPR (most often PET
studies done for Diagnosis).
Please contact the NOPR investigators or staff at
pet_registry@phila.acr.org if you would like further clarification of
any of the issues addressed in this announcement.
NOPR Update August 13, 2006
Claims Denials for CMS Noridian & Empire Contractors
The Society for Nuclear Medicine (SMN) has published information regarding NOPR claims denials (QR modifier issues) for Noridian and Empire CMS contractors on their Web site. For more information please go to:
http://interactive.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=5457
NOPR Update July 13, 2006
Physician Payment for NOPR PET Registry Participation
Neither the NOPR Operations Manual nor the January 2005 National
Coverage Determination announcing the Department of Health and Human
Service's authorization of a PET registry, provide for the payment of
physicians for their time spent completing case report forms. Providers
are required to pay to the NOPR a one-time registration fee of fifty
dollars. Any payments to physicians by providers or others intended to
compensate physicians for their time must comply with state and federal
law, including kickback laws, which impose limits on the solicitation,
receipt, offer or payment of any form of remuneration in exchange for
arranging, recommending or furnishing any item or service that may be
paid under certain health care programs. Any questions regarding the
appropriateness of payments for physicians should be directed to your
own compliance personnel or your counsel.
NOPR Update - July 6, 2006
Effective July 8, 2006 the NOPR is changing its procedure for routing
the Pre- and Post-PET Forms to referring physicians.
Beginning on July 8, NOPR will no longer send e-mails to the referring
physician. We will continue to send the Pre- and Post-PET Forms by
e-mail to the PET facility and it will be the PET facility's
responsibility to deliver (by hand, fax, or mail) the forms to the
referring physician for completion. To aid in their delivery, the NOPR
will also e-mail the PET facility a pre-populated fax cover sheet for
use in sending the forms to the referring physician. (As before, the
Pre-PET Form will not be included in the confirmatory e-mail after
patient registration if the PET facility indicates that it has already
received a completed Pre-PET Form from the referring physician at the
time of patient registration.) Also effective on July 8, all e-mail
transmissions from the NOPR will no longer contain patient names or
birthdates. We are making these changes to ensure the highest degree of
security for patient protected health information.
In addition, several changes have been made to the Operations Manual,
Patient and Physician Information Sheets (consent documents), and the
data collection forms. These changes are listed below. Please make
sure to download the latest copy of these materials - all now have a
version date of 6/29/06. If you have previously distributed copies of
any of these documents (e.g., the Patient Information Sheet or the
Pre-PET Form) to referring physicians, these physicians or members of
their staff should be provided with the new versions (or download them
form the NOPR web site) and asked to discontinue use of the old versions
of these forms.
- Patient Information Sheet - updated to include contact information for questions concerning research subjects' rights and research-related injury.
An updated version of the Spanish translation will be posted when available.
- Physician Information Sheet - updated to include:
- Notification that records will be stored "permanently".
- Notification of right to withdraw from, or not participate in, the study with no loss of benefits.
- Contact information for questions concerning research subjects' rights and research-related injury.
- Case Registration Form
- Clarification of question 1, "Ethnicity." Added: [Note: "Hispanic" is defined as a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.]
- Referring physician e-mail address will no longer be collected.
- Pre-PET Form
- Revised to reflect the new delivery procedures described above.
- Question 1, Specific Reason for PET Study. Answer for "Diagnosis/Unknown Primary Tumor" amended to read: "To detect a primary tumor site in a patient with a confirmed or strongly suspected metastatic lesion (answer 2c)"
- Question 2.c - Amended to read: "Unknown primary: site of pathologically proven or strongly suspected metastatic disease (196-199)"
These changes will allow for inclusion of patients where pathologic confirmation of metastatic disease is not possible or not in the patient's best interest. The most common example of this situation would be a patient presenting with multiple brain lesions seen on MRI that are most consistent with metastases, and without an apparent primary cancer after a conventional diagnostic assessment. In this situation, PET is typically ordered not only to find the occult primary tumor, but also to find a more accessible site for biopsy.
- Post-PET Forms - revised to reflect the new delivery procedures described above.
- HIPAA Compliance and IRB Approval for the NOPR (Appendix IV)
- Revised to reflect the new Pre- and Post-PET Form delivery procedures
- Added ACR IRB "Statement Regarding Use of Individual Protected Health Information in NOPR"
- Operations Manual - updated to incorporate all changes listed above. Revised sections include: Schema, Section 5.0 Registry Workflow, Appendix I, Appendix II, and Appendix IV.
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