ACR Appropriateness Criteria

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The ACR Appropriateness Criteria® (AC) are evidence-based guidelines to assist referring physicians and other providers in making the most appropriate imaging or treatment decision for a specific clinical condition. Employing these guidelines helps providers enhance quality of care and contribute to the most efficacious use of radiology. The AC are not intended to be used as coding guidance for radiologic procedures. Learn more »

The newest ACR AC are listed below.

AC Portal

An interactive way to access the AC topics, variants, clinical scenarios, and recommendations. Use keyword filters and search features to more easily find all content.

See the complete list of ACR AC topics and ratings tables
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Search and filter AC topics and ratings tables (login required)
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AC News and Announcements

  • Medicare PAMA AUC Program: 
  • ACR AC Topics Available in Spanish - Additional ACR AC topics will be added as they are available
  • For those new to the ACR Appropriateness Criteria, view our Introduction to AC module.

New and Revised Topics in 2023



In 2023, we added 4 new and 11 revised topics. The ACR Appropriateness Criteria includes 227 Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology topics with over 1080 clinical variants and 3000 clinical scenarios.

Diagnostic Imaging Updates

  1. Abnormal Liver Function Tests (New)
  2. Acute Onset Flank Pain-Suspicion of Stone Disease (Urolithiasis) (Revised)
  3. Breast Implant Evaluation (Revised)
  4. Congenital or Acquired Heart Disease (New)
  5. Dialysis Fistula Malfunction (New)
  6. Imaging after Total Hip Arthroplasty (Revised)
  7. Imaging After Total Knee Arthroplasty (Revised)
  8. Incidentally Detected Indeterminate Pulmonary Nodule (Revised)
  9. Left Lower Quadrant Pain (Revised)
  10. Lower Extremity Chronic Venous Disease (Revised)
  11. Preprocedural Planning for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (Revised)
  12. Pulsatile Abdominal Mass, Suspected Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (Revised)
  13. Staging and Post-Therapy Assessment of Head and Neck Cancer (New)
  14. Sudden Onset of Cold, Painful Leg (Revised)
  15. Tinnitus (Revised)

Interventional Radiologic Updates

  1. Dialysis Fistula Malfunction (New)
  2. Lower Extremity Chronic Venous Disease (Revised)
See new topics currently under development and under consideration
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Methodology Documents

As a qPLE, the ACR follows guidance development requirements including a balanced, multidisciplinary team involving various stakeholders in the development process. To read more about the development process, please review the information below.

  • The ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Methodology article is now available on the JACR . This paper describes the methodology and illustrates adherence to the process in the development of the AC.
Rating Round Information
Literature Search Process
Evidence Document

Additional Supporting Information

Overview
Composition of Expert Panels
Organizational Chart of AC Committees
Medical Specialty Organization Representation
Radiation Dose Assessment Introduction
Procedure Information
Standard Procedure List – AC Diagnostic Topics
Patient Age Definitions
Citation Information
Terms and Conditions

Provide Feedback

The feedback site allows us to track and manage feedback from a variety of sources. One focus of this site is to capture insights from partners who are not directly involved in the ACR AC development and review processes. Feedback and comments on any topic may be submitted at any time, including during the focused commenting period scheduled for two months after each release. We do our best to provide timely responses to all input.

Patient Summaries

The Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR), in collaboration with the ACR AC Patient Engagement Subcommittee, has launched Patient Summaries as a new publication category, representing an important, new initiative to have patients (laypersons) summarize AC recommendations for patients. It is anticipated the ordering physicians and radiologists will welcome these publications, as the summaries are intended to help patients understand what tests are appropriate for their situation, and are designed to help ordering physicians and radiologists better communicate the reason they are requesting, or performing, a particular imaging test. Learn more » 

Additional Information

Permission to Use ACR Appropriateness Criteria

Clinical Decision Support



ACR Select®, a digital representation of the ACR Appropriateness Criteria® for diagnostic imaging, is a module contained within CareSelect Imaging.

ACR Select is ready to incorporate into computerized ordering and EHR systems to guide providers when ordering medical imaging scans.


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Radiology Support, Communication and Alignment Network



Collaborate with radiologists and referring clinicians to improve imaging appropriateness based on Choosing Wisely topics.

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