ACR Members Testify Before Senate HELP Committee
Contact: Cary Boshamer
(703) 716-7540
E-mail: caryb@acr.org
Reston, Va. –– Officials of the American College of Radiology were pleased with the reception by members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee during Tuesday's hearing on reauthorization of the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992.
ACR members D. David Dershaw, M.D., professor of radiology at Cornell University Medical College and director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, and Leonard Berlin, M.D., professor of radiology at Rush Medical College and chairman of the Department of Radiology at Rush North Shore Medical Center, testified before the committee. They were joined by Diana Rowden, a breast cancer survivor testifying on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
"Radiology's views and concerns on MQSA and the nation's mammography crisis took center stage today and were well received by the HELP Committee members," noted E. Stephen Amis, M.D., chairman of the ACR Board of Chancellors. "Drs. Dershaw and Berlin did an exemplary job speaking on behalf of our profession and I am confident our concerns will be given the careful consideration they deserve."
Dershaw and Berlin briefed the committee members on the ramifications of requiring a certain number of the MQSA-mandated continuing medical education credits to be acquired through self-assessment tools, such as the ACR's Mammography Interpretive Skills Assessment, and called for a detailed review of existing MQSA regulations to determine if there is a "burden without benefit." They also indicated the need for assurances that the results of any self-assessment requirement would not be discoverable in the event of a legal proceeding.
Noting that 700 mammography facilities have closed nationwide over the last two years, Berlin cautioned that "this downward trend will continue and waiting times will continue to increase for women seeking timely mammography services unless Congress acts responsibly with regard to mammography self-assessment."
Committee members acknowledged the regulatory and legal burden placed on the nation's mammographers and agreed that it may be time to review existing regulations, in addition to addressing the need for improved assessment skills for some radiologists. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, (D-Md.), the author of the original MQSA legislation 11 years ago, said that mandated self-assessment should use "carrots, not sticks" to reward radiologists for their participation.
"We should think about a reauthorization of MQSA in a shorter time frame and also consider what 'carrots' we should use for self-assessment," Milkulski noted.
The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.