Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Efforts Toward Standardization: From Procedure Standards to Appropriate Use Criteria

Abstract

The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) continues to develop clinical guidance documents to synthesize and disseminate clinical information for optimal patient care. Clinical guidelines help standardize delivery of care and improve quality. Chronology of SNMMI efforts in the development of nuclear medicine procedure standards (PS) and appropriate use criteria (AUC) is reviewed. Historically, the Society has focused its efforts on developing PS describing the accepted methodology for performing nuclear medicine procedures. However, legislative mandates and lack of existing evidence-based documents prompted SNMMI to take a lead in developing AUC for high-value nuclear medicine procedures. AUC presents common clinical scenarios where the use of nuclear medicine procedures is or is not appropriate. Methodology used by SNMMI for the development of PS and AUC is described. Following a multidisciplinary, transparent, and widely acceptable process can result in the development of widely acceptable clinical guidance documents that can standardize best practices, improve quality, and result in effective and efficient patient care. The Society has been developing and/or revising new PS and AUC documents for high-value nuclear medicine procedures. Updated real-time information on these clinical guidelines can be found at www.snmmi.org/ps and www.snmmi.org/auc.