“W. Virginia Hospital Overradiated Brain Scan Patients, Records Show” (news article, March 6) again highlights issues of concern regarding radiation safety for patients. The American College of Radiology has always been a leader in developing programs to ensure quality and patient safety.
As chairman of the A.C.R. board of chancellors, I am pleased to report that as an element of its broad registry program, the college has developed a CT dose index registry that facilitates direct reporting of CT radiation dose for each examination to a central database, while preserving legally required patient confidentiality.This registry permits facilities to compare dose levels to national benchmarks, helps standardize the dose reporting process, and may potentially alert a facility when a threshold dose has been exceeded.
The college agrees that a requirement for dose reporting should be an integral component of safe medical practice, and we are working with federal legislators and regulators to create a national policy that would mandate such reporting.
John A. Patti
Boston, March 9, 2011
The writer is a radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
No comments:
Post a Comment