Fiscal Year 2024 Top Accomplishments

•  Worked with the Texas Medical Association (TMA), the Texas Radiological Society and other physician organizations to support legal efforts to scrutinize the federal government’s implementation of the No Surprises Act (NSA) and ensure it adheres to the original intent of Congress — to provide an equal playing field for both providers and insurers in dispute resolutions while taking patients out of the middle. TMA and the ACR® thus far have won all NSA-related court decisions.

• Continued to advocate for biomedical research funding through the National Institutes of Health and the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health during the congressional appropriations cycle. Submitted congressional testimony urging Congress to support funding to these agencies, providing examples of radiology and imaging advancements and initiatives made possible by federal investments in the agency.

• Continued accruing patients for the Contrast Mammography Tomographic Imaging Screening Trial (CMIST), evaluating potential improvement in breast cancer screening for women with dense breast using contrast-enhanced mammography, led by Christopher Comstock, MD, FACR, and supported by GE Healthcare and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation as MSKCC. 

• The ECOG-ACRIN Phase II Glioblastoma Accelerated Biomarkers Learning Environment Trial, approved by the National Cancer Institute and activated in April 2024, includes plasma biomarkers, advanced MRI and PET as well as cerebral blood volume imaging using dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI and radiomics/automated analyses to focus on prediction of survival.

• ACR quoted in 9,733 print, broadcast and online news reports (NBC News, CBS News, NYT, WSJ, Politico, WebMD) — reaching an audience of 29 billion. The cost to buy advertising equivalent to this coverage is $53 million. Issues on which ACR was quoted include cancer screening, AI/DSI, Neiman HPI and full-body MRI. The tone of these articles (defined by Cision) was 96% positive or neutral.

• Radio public service announcement (PSA) promoting lung, breast and colorectal cancer screening exams reached a larger audience than any PSA effort in ACR history. Gained 14,000 total airings — heard by an audience of 459 million. The cost to purchase advertising equivalent to the reach of the PSAs would be $1.6 million— a 13-fold ROI.

• Helped increase Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST) enrollment by 13,047 women in FY24 (20-fold increase during pandemic) — will reach total 108,000 women enrollment goal by Dec. 31.   

• Led an effort to allow mobile access to the ACR^® Lung Cancer Screening Facility Locator Tool, an effort supported by digital advertisements and radio public service announcements.

• Launched a redesigned, mobile-friendly Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) website to support the multi-institution IROC grant managed by ACR Center for Research and Innovation™.

• The ACR remains the Voice of Radiology with the blog reaching more than 21,000 readers in FY24.

• ACR Marketing, Public Relations and Communications launched a comprehensive communication plan to streamline and consolidate email and newsletter communication, leveraging dynamic content to decrease the volume and frequency of outbound messaging.

• The ACR® Bulletin released its annual special report on screening with a focus on patient- and family-centered care. The report included articles on ACR Learning Network quality improvement collaboratives, the evolution of mammography and the role of mobile health screenings in underserved communities.

• The Journal of the American College of Radiology (JACR®) published a series of focus issues on Economics, Teaching and Education, Patient- and Family-Centered Care, Climate Change and Sustainability, and Interventional Radiology.

• The JACR published two Appropriateness Criteria (AC) supplements, November 2023 and June 2024, to provide additional structure to the AC process and high-quality guidance to all ordering providers.

• In preparation for its transition to a digital-only publication in 2025, the JACR began highlighting its unique multimedia offerings and online-only content.

• Launched a new Transparent-AI designation through the ACR Data Science Institute® to foster transparency in the training, testing and performance of AI algorithms.

• Collected and processed more than 100,000 imaging studies and associated clinical data to support COVID-19 research through the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center.

• Released the ACR^® Recognized Center for Healthcare AI (ARCH-AI), a new program to recognize facilities for deploying AI safely and effectively.

• Case in Point®, supported by the ACR Cortex platform, received 3,000 to 4,000 visitors per day and over 1 million page views per month.

• ACR Accreditation systems launched a new version of the TRIAD accreditation software with an updated application infrastructure and new capabilities.

• ACR Connect, the next generation of TRIAD, added robust local processing, AI tools and the ability for sites to participate in a variety of new ACR initiatives.

• Implemented the web-based student response system, Poll Everywhere, for course attendance tracking. Integrated with Canvas, the system enhances student participation and engagement, allowing for real-time feedback, polling and interaction.

• Secured two observerships, designed to enrich AIRP educational programs and foster collaborations with external partners.

• Changed the AIRP fee waiver policy in alignment with a commitment to fairness and transparency, requiring residents to submit a letter from their program directors authorizing the payment waiver fee for case submissions.

• Collaborated with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiology (RANZCR) to provide courses in Sydney, Australia, on Prostate MR, Body and Female Pelvic MR, and Musculoskeletal MR. 

• Added more than 200 new clinical cases to in-person course materials as course directors and faculty began efforts to continually update course content.

• Delivered the ACR^® 2024 Annual Meeting to 1,215 registrants who attended caucus meetings, elections, Council deliberations and the Chapter Leaders Workshop. The meeting also provided programming to young and early career professionals, residents and medical students.

• Awarded three chapter grants to support innovative initiatives at the chapter level.

• Announced Chapter Recognition Awards to 21 chapters for excellence in government relations, meetings/education, membership, quality and safety, and overall excellence.

• Elevated the Medical Student Subcommittee to a section, the Medical Student Section, with more than 3,200 ACR medical student members.

• Launched Volunteer Link to connect members to ACR volunteer opportunities that fit their interests, expertise and time availability.

• Released three new data tools:

• Neiman Almanac 2.0 allows users with an interactive interface to evaluate Medicare imaging rates and costs — overall — or separately by modality, body region of imaging, place of service, or by patient sex and race.
• Neiman Imaging Comorbidity Index is a first-of-its kind adjustment tool for predicting advanced imaging use, filling a gap in risk-adjustment methods for imaging utilization.
• Interactive U.S. Cancer Disparities Maps provides the opportunity for community and health care organizations to identify their most pressing equity issues, inform solutions and improve outcomes in underserved U.S. communities while driving equity in cancer diagnosis and treatment.

• Increased visibility and impact of HPI research:

• HPI studies appeared in 260 news articles, reaching an audience of 600 million, doubling the value of earned media coverage from the best previous 12-month period.

• Published the following ACR Bulletin articles: CT Colonography: A Policy Impasse, or Opportunity? and Evidence that Paves The Way for a Brighter Future in Radiology.
• Conducted four live Healthcare Delivery & Policy Research Course sessions, introducing radiology residents to health policy, health services research and associated career pathways.

• Published 30 new HPI studies and presented 14 conference speaking engagements on topics including imaging reimbursement cuts, appropriate use criteria, cancer screening policy, healthcare disparities, AI product growth, value-based payments and radiation oncology alternative payment models.

Accreditation
	Facilities						Units
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024		2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Breast MRI	1,983	2,035	2,042	1,382	895		2,229	2,280	2,285	1,534	990*
Breast Ultrasound	2,447	2,491	2,510	2,570	2,572		-	-	-	-	-
CT	7,362	7,316	7,318	7,136	7,013		10,479	10,489	10,569	10,312	10,190
MRI	7,334	7,214	7,126	7,109	6,960		9,613	9,509	9,454	9,428	9,315
Mammography	8,478	8,533	8,616	8,660	8,757		21,506	23,246	23,906	13,086	13,309*
Nuclear Medicine	3,407	3,349	3,266	3,109	3,023		5,572	5,455	5,292	5,043	4,908
PET	1,641	1,649	1,656	1,659	1,658		1,793	1,810	1,821	1,799	1,791
Stereotactic Breast Biopsy	1,611	1,617	1,643	1,672	1,684		1,834	1,836	1,862	1,898	1,917
Ultrasound	5,473	5,384	5,363	5,353	5,303		-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-				-	-	-	-	-
Radiation Oncology	787	773	754	727	705		-	-	-	-	-

 

*Digital Breast Tomosynthesis is now its own accreditation module and no longer counted as a unit, which is why numbers dropped in 2023. Breast MRI is now a module under MRI and units currently accredited as breast MR will transition into MR at their renewal dates.

 

	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Comprehensive Breast Imaging Center Facilities	1,176	1,206	1,232	1,239	1,701
Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence Facilities	512	546	535	756	703
RADPEER® Physician Groups	976	890	823	773	726
RADPEER Physicians	17,850	18,931	22,056	20,839	19,929

 

 

National Radiology Data Registry
	Active Facilities					Exams
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
3D Printing	4	11	18	18	15	90	1,538	2,411	2,809	3,302
CTC	30	28	26	20	19	18,880	20,293	21,654	22,787	23,456
DIR	2,265	2,245	2,184	2,170	2,214	115,661,257	137,482,800	178,790,964	197,614,247	214,233,399
GRID	745	777	1,024	999	896	75,140,154	94,386,827	128,123,182	164,155,148	191,161,823
LCSR	3,284	3,537	3,461	2,930	2,769	2,277,630	3,123,796	4,246,969	5,146,862	5,906,041
NMD	406	410	361	324	281	33,135,006	37,192,720	41,139,719	44,533,660	46,926,427
All	4,772	4,992	5,210	4,714	4,459