The ACR® is proud to announce that one of the quality measures in the ACR National Radiology Data Registry (NRDR®) Dose Index Registry has been approved for endorsement through the National Quality Forum (NQF).
The NQF measures and standards serve as an important foundation for initiatives to enhance healthcare value, make patient care safer and achieve better outcomes. An NQF measure endorsement reflects rigorous scientific and evidence-based review, input from patients and their families, and the perspectives of people throughout the healthcare industry.
The DIR measure that has been approved by NQF is: Composite weighted average for three CT Exam Types: Overall Percent of CT exams for which Dose Length Product is at or below the size-specific diagnostic reference level (for CT Abdomen-Pelvis with contrast/single phase scan, CT Chest without contrast/single phase scan and CT Head/Brain without contrast/single phase scan) (also known as ACRad34 for MIPS reporting). This measure captures how well radiation exposure from the scanner is adjusted for patient size, using size-specific, exam-level diagnostic reference levels and identifies how well total radiation exposure from an exam is optimized based on the CT dose index dose-length product. The measure goal is to decrease preventable harm through effective optimization of CT protocols and resulting reduction in radiation dose to patients.
This measure will be publicly available through the NQF website for facilities to use as a way to improve dose protocols. For more information, please contact Karen Campos at kcampos@acr.org.