Fiscal Year 2021 Top Accomplishments

• Played an integral role in gaining significant concessions that vastly improved physician standing in the No Surprises Act passed by Congress at the end of 2020.
• Provided input to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Departments of the Treasury and Labor on the implementation of the No Surprises Act to protect patients from surprise medical bills while also maintaining adequate reimbursement for providers.
• Worked with CMS and private payers to ensure that lung cancer screening coverage policies are revised in accordance with updated U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendations.
• Continued to monitor and provide input on the implementation of provisions for the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 that require providers who order advanced diagnostic imaging exams to consult appropriate use criteria through a qualified clinical decision support mechanism. 

• Launched the ACR National Clinical Imaging Research Registry, bringing together the unique qualifications and clinical research skills of the ACR Center for Research and Innovation™ and the world-class informatics of the ACR Data Science Institute® to answer clinical research questions and advance AI with an innovative approach that leverages real-world data.
• Awarded two research project grants through the ACR Fund for Collaborative Research in Imaging: 1) A liver imaging research registry and 2) A multicenter, randomized, prospective study to test the efficacy of a patient-centered educational intervention on coronary artery calcification and cardiovascular risk factor modification with a cohort of patients enrolled in lung cancer screening programs across the country.
• Activated 17 new clinical trials focused on advanced imaging and therapeutic agents through a collaboration with National Cancer Institute groups, ECOG-ACRIN and NRG Oncology. For these studies, ACR staff support the protocol development, operations, data management, statistics, and the diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy core laboratory.
• Developed five manuscripts on ACRIN® and ECOG-ACRIN research studies as well as 23 manuscripts on NRG Oncology research, which appeared in peer-reviewed journals.
• Activated the New IDEAS Study (Imaging Dementia—Evidence for Amyloid Scanning) at over 50 sites to determine whether using amyloid PET imaging helps clinicians with diagnoses and treatment decisions, recruiting Black and Hispanic patients for 50% of the trial’s sample size.
• The DECAMP 1-Plus (Lung Cancer Screening) and New IDEAS (Dementia) research trials focused on biomarker-driven research through collection and banking of blood, buccal or other specimens to develop tools that predict, diagnose or expand biomarkers.
• Established an Interventional Radiology Research Committee with full support and enthusiasm from the Society of Interventional Radiology and the Society of Interventional Oncology.
• Representing the ACR and ACR research, Etta Pisano, MD, FACR, provided input on national and international issues affecting the healthcare and medical community:
  • Participated in the U.S. President’s Cancer Panel stakeholder meeting for the series: Improving Resilience and Equity in Cancer Screening: Lessons from COVID-19 and Beyond.
  • Focused on interoperability and artificial intelligence regulation at a G7 Health Track Working Group on Digital Health to support the health innovations of international collaborators.
  • Presented a virtual briefing to members of Congress regarding the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center and the acceleration of innovation for COVID-19 response and beyond.
• Elected Quynh-Thu Le, MD, FACR, as Chair of the RTOG Foundation and appointed her Group Chair of NRG Oncology, succeeding Walter J. Curran Jr., MD, who resigned in January 2021.

• Renewed the AIRP IT infrastructure through the Canvas Learning Management System, enabling conversion to virtual formats for the Four Week Radiologic Pathology Correlation Course and ACR AIRP Rad-Path Categorical Courses.
• Started modifying AIRP case database systems, based on resident and program input, with a complete system replacement planned for fiscal year 2022.
• Hosted four Four Week Radiologic Pathology Correlation Courses with 927 registered attendees and 163 non-U.S. residents.
• Presented seven ACR AIRP Rad-Path Categorical Courses with 157 registered U.S. attendees and 42 non-U.S. attendees.
• Maintained a radiology-pathology archive with over 14,000 cases.
• Dissolved the AIRP Board of Directors, transitioning the AIRP to fall under the ACR Board of Chancellors.
• Expanded the AIRP Advisory Committee to include three residents and shifted AIRP faculty to nonvoting members.

Piloted online offerings at the ACR Education Center for the first time, presenting 40 micro-courses for 910 participants on eight topics:

• MSK
• Neuroradiology
• Abdominal Imaging
• HRCT
• Emergency Radiology
• Prostate MR
• Cardiac MR
• Pediatrics

• The Continuous Professional Improvement (CPI) program awarded 41,440 category 1 CME credits.
• The ACR offered the Standardized Tool for the Assessment of Radiology Students (STARS) free of charge to all medical schools.
• Developed a two-week Medical Student Curriculum, providing medical students with independent required reading assignments, online modules and online scenarios.
• 549,427 cases were completed in the Case in Point® program.
• Reviewed, updated and renewed ACR Lung Cancer Screening Education for 15 CME/SA-CME, adding reference to Lung‐RADS® Version 1.1 and serving 218 enrollees; also now available on the AMA EdHub.

• 842 unique registrants participated in the 2020–2021 RLI Power Hour Webinar Series.
• 1,517 unique registrants participated in RLI programs, training, meetings and courses throughout the fiscal year.

• The ACR Foundation supported health policy research through the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute®.

• Presented 72 e-abstracts at the virtual ACR 2021 Annual Meeting.
• Awarded four chapter grants to support innovative initiatives at the chapter level.
• The ACR online community, Engage, celebrated its 4th anniversary.
• 21 chapters received ACR Chapter Recognition Awards for excellence in government relations, meetings/education, membership, and quality and safety.
• Published an e-book, titled Medical Student Guide to the Radiology Profession.
• Developed an RFS campaign to provide resources and tools to residents by program year to foster better engagement across each level of residency.
• Created the Radiation Oncology Member Hub to streamline access to resources for this segment of membership.

• Joined the Imaging Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes Research program as a research partner with the team at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research/Northwell Health that won a National Institutes of Health grant for stroke outcomes research.
• Richard Duszak Jr., MD, FACR, Neiman Institute Affiliate Senior Research Fellow, was awarded the Emory University Faculty and Staff Award for outstanding researcher.
• Neiman Institute Executive Director, Elizabeth Rula, PhD, presented “COVID-19 Impact on Imaging & Radiology Workforce Trends” at the RSNA 2020.
• Acquired 2020 data to extend our national private payer dataset.
• Updated the multiple fee-for-service Medicare Part B claims datasets (Medicare Research Identifiable Files 5% and Physician/Supplier Procedure Summary) through 2019.
• Evaluated and published details about the impact of COVID-19 on radiology in a variety of care-delivery settings in five studies and a new infographic.
• Expanded distribution of the HPI Executive Update and Neiman News with improved engagement over three quarterly newsletters: Fall, Winter and Spring/Summer.
• The Neiman Institute and ACR Center for Research and Innovation initiated the bimonthly column, Research Rounds, in the ACR Bulletin:
  
  • Tracking the Pandemic (January 2021).
  • Opportunities for Equity in Imaging (May 2021).
• Executive Director, Elizabeth Rula, PhD, discussed the value of radiology research in Research That Drives Impact, ACR Bulletin, November 2020.
• The AIRP-HPI Comparative Effectiveness Research Course successfully transitioned to a virtual course, maintaining prior levels of participation.
  
  • Executive Director, Elizabeth Rula, PhD, presented Health Policy Research: Current Topics, Resources & Data at the live seminar on March 30, 2021.

• The Quality & Safety Continuing Education Series included results of the patient perceptions survey.
• Published two price transparency articles:
  
  • Cost Estimation: Using the Tools We Already Have
  • Playing to Win
• Howard Fleishon, MD, MMM, FACR, and Gregory Nicola, MD, discuss the effects of evaluation and management (E/M) CPT® coding changes in this ACR Bulletin Podcast.
• Developed online Population Health Management Resources to provide incentives for healthcare providers to develop new skillsets and infrastructures for delivering high-quality care.
• Published three, online population health management webinars:
  
  • Understanding and Pursuing Health Equity: Opportunities to Take Action
  • Leveraging Payment Models to Achieve Population Health Management Success: Strategies for Real-World Action
  • Radiology's Central Role in Patient Screening Program Success
• Published a Voice of Radiology Blog and Advocacy in Action e-news article based on population health management topics.
• Initiated the National Lung Cancer Roundtable: Lung Cancer Screening Webinar Series addressing new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, featuring perspectives from key stakeholder groups — patients, primary care physicians, pulmonologists, radiologists, epidemiologists, behavioral scientists, oncologists and thoracic surgeons — for 1,701 registrants, available on demand.
• The ACR Lung Cancer Screening Steering Committee engaged 60 nurse navigators in a pilot test of the Lung Cancer Screening CT Incidental Findings Quick Guide, to assist with patient care coordination for incidental findings detected during the lung cancer screening process.
• Ian Weissman, DO, FACR, Chair of the ACR Commission on Patient- and Family-Centered Care (PFCC) Outreach Committee, formed a collaboration with RAD-AID to address health disparities and inequities for all populations who need improved access to care. He also represented PFCC work at the international virtual conference, “New Standards of Care: Building Tomorrow's Healthcare System Today.”

• Developed Closing the Results Follow-Up Loop measures through a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Diagnostic Excellence Initiative project; refined measure details for feasibility based on public comment.
• The ACR National Radiology Data Registry (NRDR®) continued to support quality reporting and CMS measure submissions.
• Completed the NRDR Publications Portal, including a searchable list of all NRDR publications and data.
• Launched the 3D Printing Registry pilot with sites entering cases and held two webinars to promote participation in coordination with RSNA.
• Qualified for another five years as a Provider Led Entity through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop appropriate use criteria for advanced diagnostic imaging services under the PAMA 2014 legislation.
• Offered flexibility and extensions to all accredited facilities due to the COVID-19 crisis: