Computed Tomography Accreditation History
The American College of Radiology's history of developing and administering accreditation programs that assess the quality of imaging facilities dates back to 1963. In 1987, the ACR introduced the Mammography Accreditation Program. This program attracted widespread, voluntary participation from facilities wanting to be recognized for performing quality mammography. In 1992, the federal government mandated that all mammography facilities be accredited.
Based on the mammography program's success and the wide variation observed both in image services and in the quality provided by health care facilities, the ACR developed other, modality-specific accreditation programs. These programs include Radiation Oncology (1987), Ultrasound (1995), Stereotactic Breast Biopsy (1996), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (1996), Breast Ultrasound (1998), Nuclear Medicine (1999), Computed Tomography (2002) and Radiography/Fluoroscopy (2002). The purpose of the accreditation programs is to set quality standards for practices and help them continuously improve upon the quality of care they give to their patients. Designed to be educational in nature, the ACR Accreditation Programs evaluate qualifications of personnel, equipment performance, effectiveness of quality control measures, and quality of clinical images. It is believed that these are primary factors that affect the quality of clinical images and ultimately the quality of patient care.
Because of the success of these voluntary programs and of the desire of many radiology practices and facilities to accredit in multiple modalities, the ACR Council and Board of Chancellors approved the development of the ACR Diagnostic Modality Accreditation Program to further encourage accreditation while reducing the burden of the application process. The Diagnostic Modality Accreditation Program incorporates all the ACR accreditation programs (except mammography and radiation oncology) under one application process. Currently accredited practice sites will receive the DMAP application to begin the renewal process eight months prior to the date that the first accredited modality is due to expire. The renewal dates for all other modalities will remain the same. Similar renewal notification will be given for these modalities, but the renewal process will require submission of the testing materials only.