ACR Appropriateness Criteria

 The ACR Appropriateness Criteria® (AC) are evidence-based guidelines to assist referring physicians and other providers in making the most appropriate imaging or treatment decision for a specific clinical condition. Employing these guidelines helps providers enhance quality of care and contribute to the most efficacious use of radiology. The AC are not intended to be used as coding guidance for radiologic procedures. Learn more »

An interactive way to access the AC topics, variants, clinical scenarios, and recommendations. Use keyword filters and search features to more easily find all content.

AC News and Announcements


New and Revised Topics in 2024


Methodology Documents


As a qPLE, the ACR follows guidance development requirements including a balanced, multidisciplinary team involving various stakeholders in the development process. To read more about the development process, please review the information below.

Additional Supporting Information


Provide Feedback


The feedback site allows us to track and manage feedback from a variety of sources. One focus of this site is to capture insights from partners who are not directly involved in the ACR AC development and review processes. Feedback and comments on any topic may be submitted at any time, including during the focused commenting period scheduled for two months after each release. We do our best to provide timely responses to all input.

Patient Summaries


JACR in collaboration with the ACR AC Patient Engagement Subcommittee, have published Patient Summaries to help patients understand what tests are appropriate for their situation. The summaries, prepared by patients (laypersons) summarize AC recommendations for patients in easy to understand language. Click here to access the patient friendly summaries.

Additional Information


Clinical Decision Support



ACR Select®, a digital representation of the ACR Appropriateness Criteria® for diagnostic imaging, is a module contained within CareSelect Imaging.

ACR Select is ready to incorporate into computerized ordering and EHR systems to guide providers when ordering medical imaging scans.


Get ACR Select

Radiology Support, Communication and Alignment Network



Collaborate with radiologists and referring clinicians to improve imaging appropriateness based on Choosing Wisely topics.

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