ACR accreditation mandates that the providers reading scans meet basic education and training standards, that the imaging equipment is surveyed regularly by a medical physicist to ensure that it is functioning properly and radiation dose is not excessive, and that the technologists administering the test are appropriately certified.

The College also published the ACR White Paper on Radiation Dose in Medicine: a far-reaching and extensive set of 33 recommendations designed to counteract medical and societal trends which have contributed to any increased radiation dose that Americans may experience as this beneficial technology advances. To date, 27 of the 33 recommendations have been completed or are in progress.


In 2007, the Society for Pediatric Imaging (SPR) initiated the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging, which the ACR joined as a founding member. The Alliance is conducting the Image GentlyTM campaign (www.imagegently.org) to make providers aware of opportunities to lower the radiation dose used in the imaging of children and now encompasses 44 medical organizations from the United States and around the world. The Alliance, among other things:

-Is collaborating with imaging manufacturers to standardize dose assessment and display for children and to improve technologist education, ensuring that CT scanning radiation levels are appropriate for children

- Produced "My Child's Medical Imaging Record" card which can be downloaded from the Image Gently site and allows parents to record where and when a study was performed as well as the type of radiologic exam. This can help their future medical providers make more informed decisions regarding optimal timing of additional radiologic examinations.

What Patients Can Do:

The organizations listed above urge patients and providers to visit the "Radiology Safety" section of the ACR Web site (www.acr.org/safety) as well as the "Radiation Safety" section of www.radiologyinfo.org, and the Image GentlyTM site (www.imagegently.org) for more information regarding radiation exposure from medical imaging exams.

Patients should also keep a record of their X-ray history and before undergoing a scan, should ask their physician:

-Why do I need this exam?

-How will having this exam improve my health care?

-Are there alternatives that do not use radiation which are equally as good?

-Is this facility ACR accredited? (www.acr.org/facility-search)

-Does the physician ordering the scan have a financial interest in the facility providing the exam (i.e. do they directly profit from ordering the scan)?

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