ACR Is Recipient of AMA Public Service Award
ACR Bulletin
January 1995
ACR Is Recipient of AMA Public Service Award
ACR President K. K. Wallace, Jr. of Charlottesville, VA accepted, on behalf of the College, the American Medical Association''s Public Service Award at the AMA interim meeting in December. The award is in recognition of the many years of success of the ACR mammography accreditation program. Following is the text of Dr. Wallace''s acceptance speech:
On behalf of the American College of Radiology, I thank the American Medical Association for the great honor you have bestowed upon us in this public service award.
In accepting this award, I wish to point out that the ACR mammog-raphy accreditation program owes its success to a vigorous and assiduous team effort on the part of ACR members, officers and staff.
In the mid-1980s, when the promotion and utilization of mammography became widespread, leaders in the practice of mammog-raphy and in the American College of Radiology recognized that a substantial portion of mammography was of inadequate quality.
To assure that mammography images would be of the best possible quality, the accreditation program was established.
There are several leaders of this effort who should be recognized. Early leadership was provided by Gerald D. Dodd, Jr. of Houston, past president of the ACR, who became president of the American Cancer Society. He was chairman of the ACR Task Force on Breast Cancer. Harold Lackey served as chairman of a similar process in the Illinois Radiological Society and the Illinois Division of the American Cancer Society.
Other leaders in this process included Terry Meyer of Columbus, OH, first chairman of the ACR accreditation program; Ray Tanner of Memphis, TN; Robert McLelland of Chapel Hill, NC; Edward Hendrick of Denver, CO; and Stephen Feig of Philadelphia, PA, current chairman of the ACR accreditation program. This is to name but a few of our many important leaders.
That Dr. Tanner and Dr. Hendrick are important, emphasizes that scrupulous attention to the principals of radiation physics and protection are essential to obtain the best quality images at the lowest radiation dose.
Our chief executive officer, John Curry, has always applied our best resources to the mammography accreditation effort. Marie Zinninger, a nurse by profession, has been a veritable lioness in guarding the integrity of the mammography accreditation program. She is assistant executive director of the ACR.
The mammography accreditation program was a voluntary, peer review process to identify and address mammography image quality, and radiation dose problems. Over the years, 30 percent of facilities applying were initially unable to meet the criteria of the program.
Contemplate, if you will, the effect this has on a physician and his practice. Then you will recognize that the success of the program is a tribute to the radiologists who accepted the discipline, and ACR leaders and staff who took the heat.
Education is an important element of our success. After remediation, all but 10 to 12 percent of those applying passed. We voluntarily accredited almost 10,000 mammography units.
Effective October 1, 1994, under MQSA (Mammography Quality Standards Act), mammography accreditation is no longer voluntary. Mammography practices must be accredited by the Food and Drug Administration.
Thus, it becomes incumbent upon us to be vigilant to assure that this government program, with its good intentions, does not become so intrusive that it limits access to mammography.
The benefits of this essential service must continue to accrue to the benefits of the health of women.
Thank you again from the American College of Radiology for this great honor.