American College of Radiology
The 34,000 members of the American College of Radiology (ACR) include radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, interventional radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians. For more than three-quarters of a century, the ACR has devoted its resources to making imaging safe, effective and accessible to those who need it.
The mission of the ACR is to serve patients and society by:
- Maximizing the value of radiology, radiation oncology, interventional radiology, nuclear medicine and medical physics
- Advancing the science of radiology
- Improving the quality of patient care
- Positively influencing the socio-economics of the practice of radiology
- Providing continuing education for radiology and allied health professions
- Conducting research for the future of radiology
The ACR’s accreditation program is the nation’s oldest and most widely recognized medical imaging and radiation oncology accrediting body.
All facilities providing mammography must be certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1994. To be certified, a facility must be accredited. The FDA has designated the ACR as an accrediting body.
The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act, signed into law in 2008, requires providers of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET) and nuclear medicine exams that bill under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) fee schedule to be accredited by January 2012 in order to receive Medicare payments. CMS has designated the ACR as an accrediting body.