News | Radiology Business | July 19, 2021

The fund was created to fight for patient safety and access to radiologist expertise

The American College of Radiology Association (ACRA) has established the Scope-of-Practice (SOP) Fund to safeguard patients and patient access to radiologist expertise by fighting state and federal non-physician SOP expansion legislation

Getty Images


July 19, 2021 — The American College of Radiology Association (ACRA) has established the Scope-of-Practice (SOP) Fund to safeguard patients and patient access to radiologist expertise by fighting state and federal non-physician SOP expansion legislation. The new SOP fund, with its initial $225,000 in funding, will be used in conjunction with state radiological societies to proactively educate lawmakers and counter future scope threats to patient safety.

Non-physician provider societies, specifically for Advanced Practice RNs (APRN) and Physician Assistants (PAs), have ramped up their fight to increase their members’ SOP and gain independent practice – particularly at the state level. State and national agencies have encouraged use of these physician extenders — especially during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This must be countered.

“Increased PA and NP scope of practice and autonomy may impact care and limit patient access to radiologists and radiologist-led teams. Radiologists are uniquely educated, trained and qualified to practice radiology,” said Howard B. Fleishon, M.D., MMM, FACR, Chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors. “PAs and NPs do not have comparable training, competence or experience. They should not independently supervise or interpret imaging exams.”

The new fund will bolster ACR national and state chapter involvement in scope-of-practice legislative, regulatory and legal activities. As part of this strategy, funds will be used to partner with other physician specialty or state medical societies to amplify the message of patient safety first.

“The ACR is committed to protecting the quality of radiological care through aggressive advocacy in support of physician-led healthcare – specifically the radiologist-led imaging team. This fund is an important commitment to help us in this fight,” said Fleishon.

The ACR will provide members with more information regarding the SOP fund in the coming weeks and months.

For more information: www.acr.org


Related Content

News | Artificial Intelligence

July 17, 2025 — HOPPR, a secure AI development platform for medical imaging, has announced the commercial release of its ...

Time July 17, 2025
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

July 17, 2025 — RadNet, Inc., a provider of high-quality, cost-effective diagnostic imaging services and digital health ...

Time July 17, 2025
arrow
News | Focused Ultrasound Therapy

July 15, 2025 — Newswise —The UK Focused Ultrasound Foundation and Pancreatic Cancer UK have announced a new partnership ...

Time July 16, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Imaging

July 15, 2025 — Radiology Partners (RP), a provider of technology-enabled radiology services, has announced the launch ...

Time July 15, 2025
arrow
News | Digital Radiography (DR)

July 10, 2025 — Fujifilm Healthcare Americas Corp. has launched several advanced automated functions for its FDR ...

Time July 10, 2025
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

July 01, 2025 — NANO-X Imaging Ltd. recently announced a clinical and educational collaboration with Keiser University ...

Time July 03, 2025
arrow
News | Ultrasound Imaging

June 26, 2025 — FUJIFILM VisualSonics Inc., a provider of ultra-high frequency ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging ...

Time June 27, 2025
arrow
News | Imaging Software Development

June 12, 2025 — GE HealthCare has announced the combination of GE HealthCare’s proprietary features and algorithms with ...

Time June 12, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Business

The issue of sustainability in healthcare has gained increasing focus over the past several years. During a 2022 plenary ...

Time May 06, 2025
arrow
News | Radiology Imaging

Nov. 13, 2024 — Agfa Radiology Solutions will feature live demonstrations of state-of-the-art digital X-ray rooms ...

Time November 14, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now