APhA Awards Announced

Congratulations to the following individuals for being recognized by APhA for their contributions to the profession.  These awards will be presented at the APhA Annual Meeting in Atlanta next March.  More information about the award recipients will be featured in an upcoming newsletter. 

• William H. Briner Distinguished Achievement in Nuclear Pharmacy:  Joseph Hung
• APhA Award of Merit:  Fred Gattas
• APhA Fellows:  Ken Breslow, Steve Dragotakes, and Kristina Wittstrom
• H.A.B Dunning Award:  Mallinckrodt Medical, Inc.

DRA Imaging Cuts Coming Jan. 1

Despite efforts by the medical community and patient advocacy groups, the Congress did not vote to delay or reverse the imaging reimbursement cuts outlined in the Deficit Reduction Act. While the two major codes that cardiologists use of billing cardiac stress tests will see global payment reductions of 8-10%, payments for stress agents and radiopharmaceuticals will remain fairly stable in the office and hospital outpatient departments. Congress did pass a bill that eliminated a reduction in Medicare physician payment for 2007.  For specific information about reimbursement changes for nuclear cardiology see the ASNC newsletter.

 

Holiday Travel Recommendations

Over 60,000 patients a day undergo a nuclear medicine procedure, many of whom will be traveling for the holidays.  With the heightened security, some of these patients may trigger an alarm in areas of mass transit.  Tl-201 may remain detectable for 30 days and I-131 for up to three months following the procedure.  Patients should obtain a letter from their doctors that contains the following information: the patient's name, contact information for the testing facility, the name of nuclear medicine procedure, the date of the treatment or test, the radionuclide that was used, its half-life, its administered activity and 24-hour contact information.  For additional information...

 

Happy Holidays from NEO

Nicki, Kristina, Buck, Jeff, Dao, Martha, Cynthia, & Christina