Your health insurance policy will spell out exactly which screening tests are covered e.g. bone density testing, mammograms, PAP smears, so you will have to contact your insurance company to find out if they are covering virtual colonoscopy for colon cancer screening. Since this test is very new, insurance coverage is quite variable. In May of 2008, Virtual Colonoscopy was included in the joint guidelines for screening and surveillance for the early detection of colorectal cancers and polyps from the American Cancer Society, the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer and the American College of Radiology. Beginning at age 50, Virtual Colonoscopy every 5 years is now included as one of the recommended tests for average-risk individuals. Most insurers are covering Virtual Colonoscopy as medically necessary when conventional colonoscopy cannot be completed due to a known colonic lesion, a structural abnormality or a technical difficulty is encountered that prevents adequate visualization of the entire colon or when conventional colonoscopy is medically contraindicated. Medicare doses not yet provide coverage for virtual colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening. Medicare still covers older screening tests such as barium enema or sigmoidoscopy for colon cancer screening screening. If you have a FLEX plan through your employer, you can use your FLEX benefit to pay for your virtual colonoscopy. If your physician refers you for your virtual colonoscopy and you obtain preauthorization from you health plan for your scan, Advanced Body Scan of Newport will submit a claim to your health insurance company on your behalf. You will be responsible for all co-pay’s and deductibles that apply. Advanced Body Scan of Newport is not a network provider for any managed care plan so out of network fee’s also apply. Our office manager will be happy to answer any questions and assist you with your FLEX benefit application for your Virtual Colonoscopy.
If your doctor orders these tests for diagnostic purposes and not for screening, then many insurance companies will pay for this exam. To assist your physician, we have prepared a form your physician can utilize to request benefits for you.

Yes, a cleansing bowel prep is necessary. Solid waste material must be purged from the colon before the exam as this material interferes with the ability to view the wall of the colon. If the prep is done incorrectly the exam may have to be repeated.

In general, there are two possible results from this exam. The best result is a clean exam in which no polyps or tumors are found. In our experience, this represents about 75% of our patient population. These people can be re-screened at 10 year intervals. Patients having overt cancers or polyps 10 mm or larger in size are referred for optical colonoscopy and biopsy. This is the case for 1-2% of our patients. Polyps 5 mm or smaller in size are generally not clinically important and re-screening for these individuals should not be done at more than 5 year intervals. People with polyps measuring 6-9 mm could opt for either optical colonoscopy with polypectomy or short-term surveillance virtual colonoscopy.