July 30, 2008 - The American College of Radiology (ACR) announced today it will complete the process to become a deemed accrediting body for the Medicare program and work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide the accreditation services that the new law requires.

The newly passed law, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (H.R. 6331), which averted a massive cut in Medicare physician payments, requires that medical imaging providers be accredited by Jan. 1, 2012, in order to receive reimbursement from Medicare for MRI, CT, PET and Nuclear Medicine procedures.

In addition to mammography and radiation oncology, the ACR currently has programs to accredit MRI, CT, nuclear medicine, PET, ultrasound, stereotactic breast biopsy and breast ultrasound. ACR accreditation requires that the physicians supervising and interpreting medical imaging meet stringent education and training standards. ACR accreditation also requires that the imaging equipment is surveyed regularly by qualified medical physicists, in order to ensure that it is functioning properly, and that the technologists administering the tests are appropriately certified.

ACR accreditation is an efficient process of both self-assessment and independent external audit, based on the ACR guidelines and technical standards, which assesses the qualifications of personnel, policies and procedures, equipment specifications, QA activities, patient safety, and ultimately the quality of patient care.

The purpose of these programs is to set quality standards for practices and help them continuously improve the quality of care they provide to their patients. ACR staff meets regularly with members of Congress, congressional staff, and CMS officials. The College will continue to keep members and other stakeholders informed of any developments as the Medicare accreditation process moves forward.

For more information: www.acr.org


Related Content

News | PET-CT

June 19, 2025 — Building on a collaboration that spans more than three decades, GE HealthCare has renewed its research ...

Time June 19, 2025
arrow
News | Lung Imaging

April, 15, 2025 — Optellum has entered an agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to leverage AI in early diagnosis and ...

Time April 17, 2025
arrow
News | Pediatric Imaging

April 10, 2025 — Cincinnati Children’s and GE HealthCare will form a strategic research program focused on driving ...

Time April 10, 2025
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Feb. 5, 2025 — Serac Healthcare Ltd., a clinical radiopharmaceutical company developing an innovative molecular imaging ...

Time February 05, 2025
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

Dec. 3, 2024 — During RSNA '24, GE HealthCare announced the 510(k) submission to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ...

Time December 18, 2024
arrow
News | SPECT Imaging

Dec. 2, 2024 — GE HealthCare has agreed to acquire full ownership of Nihon Medi-Physics Co., Ltd (NMP), by purchasing ...

Time December 05, 2024
arrow
News | Computed Tomography (CT)

At the annual AHRA (American Healthcare Radiology Administrators) conference in Orlando, Florida, Bayer announced an ...

Time August 09, 2024
arrow
Videos | Radiology Business

Find actionable insights to achieve sustainability and savings in radiology in this newest of ITN’s “One on One” video ...

Time July 30, 2024
arrow
News | Radiopharmaceuticals and Tracers

July 24, 2024 — Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited announced that the United States (U.S.) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ...

Time July 24, 2024
arrow
News | RSNA

July 23, 2024 — Professional registration is open for RSNA 2024, the world’s largest radiology forum. This year’s theme ...

Time July 23, 2024
arrow
Subscribe Now