The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Alzheimer's Association have announced a collaboration on a new four-year research study that will investigate the clinical usefulness and value of PET scanning for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
The $100 million study, called Imaging Dementia - Evidence for Amyloid Scanning (IDEAS) -- has been approved by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency will reimburse participating providers for the PET scans under the CMS coverage with evidence development (CED) policy, which requires research study participation as a condition of Medicare payment.
The study was developed in response to the 2013 decision by CMS not to cover scans for amyloid PET imaging in dementia and neurodegenerative disease. It will be led by Dr. Gil Rabinovici from the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues Dr. Bruce Hillner of Virginia Commonwealth University and Dr. Barry Siegel of Washington University. Hillner and Siegel are also chair and co-chair, respectively, of the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR).
