The ACR Committee on Sustainability is leading the way in educating radiologists on how to prepare their practices to be more environmentally friendly.
Sustainability has been an increasingly important topic in recent years within ACR. The growth in interest aligns with radiologists’ recognition that they have a role in reducing emissions and positively influencing climate change. The shared goal is to preserve the health of the planet while studying how climate change impacts patient health.
The journey of the ACR Committee on Sustainability reflect what its co-chairs — and many ACR members — see as an important part of the future of radiology. “I think leadership sees how this can benefit practices, and I think that there is some external momentum to integrate sustainability into healthcare,” says Julia H. Schoen, MD, MS, co-chair of the Committee. “We need groups like the ACR to help navigate barriers to implementing sustainability in our constrained healthcare system. Change in healthcare is a long-term process.”
During COVID-19, a social media post by Geraldine B. McGinty, MD, MBA, FACR, past chair of the ACR BOC, got members talking about what the College could do to help promote sustainability within radiology practices. After a year of lobbying, a small group of early career radiologists got the green light to form a task force in 2023. According to Schoen, the goal was to produce a broad overview of the environmental impacts of radiology and how addressing that footprint could add value to practices. A proposal was put forth at the ACR Council meeting at ACR 2023, which the Council adopted, giving life to the task force.
An initial focus of the task force was to better understand the problem within radiology and how the College’s resources could be leveraged to tackle these issues for the benefit of members — for example, demonstrating the economic benefits of conserving energy and how environmental disasters caused by climate change affect patient care. Task force members have worked diligently to identify how sustainability plays a role in practices of different sizes, different models and serves a variety of patient populations to help ACR members understand the importance of this issue.
The task force created a self-assessment tool for practices to help guide their journey toward becoming more sustainable. As the task force dove into the issues surrounding sustainability, it was clear that the ACR could be a powerful sustainability influencer and advocate. “The more we delved into the topic, built resources and started to think about what a self-assessment tool might look like, we really started to understand that the ACR is well-positioned to be a leader in sustainability,” says Rachel F. Gerson, MD, MBA, FACR, co-chair of the ACR Committee on Sustainability. “The College’s policy and economic expertise and its ability to set guidelines through the development of practice parameters and technical standards for practices and healthcare systems are strengths we hope to leverage.”
When the task force determined that sustainability efforts fit perfectly into ACR’s new strategic plan in 2025, the College decided to elevate the task force to a Committee on Sustainability.
We hope to create a set of practical guidelines and tools for radiologists who want to implement sustainability within their practices.
Breaking sustainability down to help those who aren’t familiar with the topic is a key focus of the Committee. At ACR 2026, Committee members released a ten-question sustainability survey as a starting point. “The goal was really to highlight sustainability at the meeting and increase member engagement and try and bring the topic to members,” Gerson says. The purpose of the survey was to learn not only what members knew about sustainability, but also what they wanted and needed to know. Gathering this information was helpful in deciding next steps. “We wanted to bring sustainability top of mind to our members and let them see that the Committee was starting to develop real work in this area,” Gerson adds. “We tried to get a sense of who is thinking about this, whether that be private practices versus academic practices, individuals or larger hospital systems.” The survey remains open and all members are encouraged to participate.
When the results came back, the Committee was pleased to see how many radiologists were already knowledgeable about sustainability, and how many wanted to learn more. “I'm glad that people know that MRI has the most negative environmental impact out of all our equipment, with 74 of 99 respondents recognizing it as the primary imaging equipment responsible,” Schoen says. “It made sense that there was also a big interest in extreme weather planning, with 66 respondents saying they were most interested in that initiative.”
Waste reduction was another key component that caught the eye of survey respondents, with 41 respondents saying they were interested in learning more about reducing waste. “These results are instructive to us. We can create targeted resources around how to decrease waste in your practice,” says Gerson. “For example, there are many ways to decrease waste related to IV contrast, from getting rid of single-use contrast vials to appropriate disposal practices, contrast recycling programs and weight-based dosing protocols.”
Other key findings from the survey show that 88 of the 99 respondents voiced some level of concern around climate change. More than two-thirds indicated that the economic benefits of sustainable practices are a top priority. The Committee plans to develop further resources and research around this topic.
Armed with the findings of what members know and what they would like to know, the Committee has now turned its attention to educating those who are interested in making positive changes. “We hope to create a set of practical guidelines and tools for radiologists who want to implement sustainability within their practices,” Schoen says. “It’s very tough for some practices to approach it right now, but the Committee can help provide resources to guide them in the right direction.”
Another big initiative is the anticipated launch of Green ID. A few years ago, the European Society of Radiology (ESR) debuted Green ID, a self-attestation program that allows users to evaluate how their practice is doing in terms of sustainability — and to learn how to make improvements. The ACR is working with the ESR help bring this program to the U.S. soon. The Committee also plans to work with the ACR Data Science Institute® to evaluate AI’s role within sustainability. “We want to think about how we use AI in a sustainable way, so that as we integrate AI into our practices, we don't drive energy costs further,” Gerson says.
Building awareness around sustainability won’t happen overnight, but Gerson, Schoen and other Committee members have confidence in the direction they are heading. “Most of us on the Committee who are doing this work in our daily practices would advise others to just begin,” says Gerson. “Simply labeling your recycling bins and posting instructions for appropriate waste disposal in the CT scanning room so that your waste is disposed of in the most environmentally conscious manner can help. It can save your practice money, and it can decrease your carbon impact. Even small changes can make a big difference.”
By Alex Utano, associate editor, ACR Bulletin.
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