What Does It Mean for a Diagnostic Imaging Center to Be Accredited by the ACR?

The American College of Radiology (ACR) awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of its practice. Image quality and procedure evaluations are conducted by board-certified radiologists and medical physicists who are experts in the field. The program also evaluates personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs. All findings are reported to the practice via a comprehensive report that includes recommendations for improvement.

The ACR accredits facilities in: Breast ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET), PET-CT and ultrasound.

When a patient chooses an ACR-accredited facility, they know:

      • The Hospital, Clinic or Out-Patient Health Center has voluntarily gone through a rigorous review         process to be sure it meets nationally-accepted standards

      • The personnel are well qualified, through education and certification, to perform and interpret         your medical images and administer your radiation therapy treatments

      • The equipment is appropriate for the test or treatment you will receive, and the facility meets or         exceeds quality assurance and safety guidelines

Congress passed bill HR6331 making accreditation mandatory for Medicare reimbursement of MRI, CT, NM, PET starting January 1, 2012.

Universal Consultants, Inc. is the premier solutions provider for facilities wishing to pursue the prominent American College of Radiology (ACR) accreditation. We will help you with MRI, CT, Nuclear Medicine, PET, PET-CT, mammography, and ultrasound accreditations. Our visits include phantom imaging, equipment performance evaluations, dosimetry, staff training, review of technologist Quality Control and performance or assistance throughout the entire testing and application process.

We understand how important ACR Accreditation can be for your business. Delays in accreditation can cost you money, both in lost revenue and in the cost of resubmission. Let us put our years of experience  lead you through all of the steps.

Please CONTACT US for additional information and pricing.


ACR Accreditaion Recordkeeping Standards

The ACR or CMS at any time during your 3-year accreditation period will be performing unannounced validation site surveys. Gathering and maintaining specific documentation is required as part of each sites accreditation. All data will be reviewed during ACR or CMS site surveys.

Universal Consultants will assist in creation of the recordkeeping process to include the following for compliance with unannounced validation of ACR or CMS standards.

- Site information
- Personnel documentation for all Physicians
- Personnel documentation for Medical Physicists
- Personnel documentation for all Technologists
- Physics Survey/Performance Evaluations with checklist of activities
- Technologist Quality Control checklist
- Federal and/or State Licensure and Inspections
- Policy and procedures with documentation review
- Physician peer review program evaluation
- Patient report evaluation
- Image labeling evaluation
- Resource information

Our professional Physicist staff will design this process for your completion of these reporting standards for meeting regulatory needs.

Please CLICK HERE for ACR CT checklist.

Please CONTACT US for details.