2010 ACR Presidential Address: Patient-Focused Radiology: Taking Charge of Radiation Dose

Radiology and radiation oncology accidents involving radiation overexposure have caused increased scrutiny by the media, lawyers, our patients, and most recently the US Food and Drug Administration. We should add a new pillar for the ACR called “patient-focused radiology.” We have reached new heights of quality in imaging, but at the same time, we have dramatically increased the radiation dose to the US population. We need to take charge of radiation dose and demonstrate that radiology expertise is essential to safe imaging. We need to introduce computerized order entry software that protects patients and educates physicians about the indications and contraindications of radiology examinations. We need to support the ACR in requesting federally mandated accreditation of all “advanced imaging” and radiation oncology accreditation, whether inpatient or outpatient. We need to support the ACR in requesting that Congress mandate a national CT dose registry, which will give alerts to each facility daily for radiation dose outliers and proactively protect patients from radiation overdoses.