ACR Council Approves New Title for ACR Standards
Contact: Cary Boshamer
(703) 716-7540
E-mail: caryb@acr.org
Reston, Va. –– Members of the American College of Radiology Council today overwhelmingly approved a resolution changing the name "ACR Standards" to "ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards." The vote came during the ACR's 80th Annual Meeting and Chapter Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., and the new title is effective immediately.
"This change brings the ACR more in line with other medical societies through the use of the term 'practice guidelines,'" said E. Stephen Amis, M.D., chairman of the ACR Board of Chancellors. "At the same time, the term 'technical standards' emphasizes the more quantifiable nature of certain of these documents, especially those that apply to areas such as medical physics and equipment specifications."
After a discussion of the ACR Standards during last year's annual meeting, the issue was referred to the Task Force on the Name and Construct of ACR Standards. After considering consultant reports, legal viewpoints and the language used by other medical societies, as well as comments obtained through a survey of ACR members, the task force issued its report recommending the name change.
The Council-approved definitions of the terms are:
Practice Guidelines: Recommended conduct in specific areas of clinical practice. They are based on analysis of current literature, expert opinion, open forum commentary and informal consensus. Guidelines are not intended to be legal standards of care or conduct and may be modified as determined by individual circumstances and available resources.
Technical Standards: Technical parameters that are quantitative or measurable. They often include specific recommendations for patient management or equipment specifications or settings. Technical standards are based on analysis of current literature, expert opinion, open forum commentary and informal consensus. Technical standards are intended to set a minimum level of acceptable technical parameters and equipment performance and may be modified as determined by individual circumstances and available resources.
"These guidelines are an educational tool designed to assist practitioners in providing appropriate radiologic care for patients," the task force noted in its report. "They are not inflexible rules or requirements of practice and are not intended, nor should they be used, to establish a legal standard of care. The ultimate judgment regarding the propriety of any specific procedure or course of action must be made by the physician or medical physicist in light of all the circumstances presented."