Appropriate use criteria for hepatobiliary scintigraphy in abdominal pain: Summary and excerpts

From the Newsline editor: Appropriate use criteria (AUC) are statements that contain indications describing when and how often an intervention should be performed under the optimal combination of scientific evidence, clinical judgment, and patient values while avoiding unnecessary provisions of services. SNMMI is a qualified provider-led entity under the Medicare Appropriate Use Criteria program for advanced diagnostic imaging, allowing referring physicians to use SNMMI AUC to fulfill the requirements of the 2014 Protecting Access to Medicare Act. SNMMI follows a balanced multidisciplinary approach to guidance development by including various stakeholders in the development process. For background and a detailed explanation of this development process, see http://www. snmmi.org/ClinicalPractice/content.aspx?ItemNumber515665. The complete text of the AUC is available at www.snmmi.org/auc.