General Accreditation Frequently Asked Questions

Personnel
Q. What is primary source verification?
A.

Every site needs to have a formal procedure to verify the credentials of their employees.
Most licensing and certifying bodies provide the ability to verify an individuals
credentials online.
For example, to verify a physicians medical license they would check the physician
licensing board in their state. Example: http://www.mbp.state.md.us/bpqapp/
For physicians, their certification can be verified at the American Board of Medical
Specialties website at https://www.certificationmatters.org/is-your-doctor-boardcertified/search-now.aspx
For technologists, they can use their specific certifying agency. Example:
https://www.arrt.org/
For board-certified medical physicists, all board certifications can be verified at the
CRCPD National QMP Registry website at http://www.crcpd.org/QMP/aboutQMP.aspx.
ABR certifications can also be verified at the American Board of Medical Specialties
website at https://www.certificationmatters.org/is-your-doctor-board-certified/searchnow.aspx.
For medical physicists qualifying under the Not Board Certified in Required
Subspecialty criteria, your primary source should be the accredited educational
institution granting the graduate degree in medical physics, radiologic physics, physics,
or other relevant physical science or engineering discipline.
The procedure does not need to be submitted to ACR. However, if ACR or CMS does a
site visit they will expect to see the written (or electronic version) of the procedure.

Continuing experience
Q. I work in a small practice and for some modalities I have difficulty in meeting the
continuing experience through primary interpretation. Are there other ways I can meet
the requirements?
A. Yes.

Double-reading (two or more physicians interpreting the same examination) is

acceptable.
Interpreting physicians may also re-interpret a previously interpreted examination and
count it towards meeting the continuing experience requirement, as long as he/she did not
do the initial interpretation.
Examinations that are reviewed and evaluated for RADPEER or an alternative
physician peer review program may count toward your continuing experience numbers.

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There is another activity underway to assist members in meeting the continuing

experience requirements. There is large case engine that has been developed through the
Education Center. A workgroup is looking at ways to make those cases available via the
web to enable members to increase the number of cases they have reviewed.

Q. We are already accredited in MRI, CT, ultrasound and mammography. The expiration
dates for each modality are different. Does ACR require the cases for continuing
experience be tied to our expiration date?
A. No. For example, if we do a site survey on March 1, 2011, we would look at all MDs for
all modalities for the previous three full calendar years to see if they have their
continuing experience numbers. If not, we would consider any cases read during the
current year (2011).
Q. For physicians reading organ specific exams are the 60 organ specific exams included in
the total 200 cross-sectional imaging studies?
A. Yes.
Q I am a physician reading only head CT and MRI exams? What do I need to do for
continuing experience?
A. You would following the second pathway for continuing experience. The total number of
exams you must read is 200. Sixty of the exams must be in CT and 60 of the exams must
be in MRI. The other 80 exams that you need to meet the 200 cross-sectional imaging
studies can be in either CT or MRI.
Continuing Medical Education
Q. If I take a one hour course on abdominal imaging that includes a discussion of CT, MRI
and ultrasound may I count CME credit for one hour in each of the three modalities?
A. Yes. The ACR recognizes that there are correlations between different types of imaging
modalities and that physicians utilizing imaging must be cognizant of such relationships.
Therefore it is not unusual for a course in imaging to include discussion of more than one
modality. Accordingly, any course that addresses multiple modalities will be entitled to
count equal CME credit for all of the modalities discussed for the purposes of ACR
accreditation. (Note that only of the CME must be Category I.)
Q. We are already accredited in MRI, CT, ultrasound and mammography. The expiration
dates for each modality are different. Does ACR require the CME be tied to our
expiration date?
A. No. As with the continuing experience, if we do a site survey on March 1, 2011 we
would look at all MDs for all modalities for the previous three full calendar years to see if

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they have their credits. If not, we would consider any credits they received in the current
year.
Submission of clinical and phantom images
Q. We are applying for CT accreditation. Our deadline for submitting our testing materials is
next week. We selected high-resolution CT of chest (HRCT) for evaluation of diffuse
lung disease as our specialty examination but we dont have a patient scheduled in time
to meet the deadline. What should we do?
A. ACR staff can grant you an extension on your deadline. Please call 1-800-770-0145.
Staff will work with you to accommodate your needs. However, please be aware that a
delay in submitting any of your testing materials will extend the time it takes for you to
get accredited.
Q. What is the image collection time period for the clinical and phantom images?
A. In the past there was a requirement that clinical cases submitted for accreditation could
not predate the application by more than two months. In addition, the accreditation
programs requiring phantom image submission specified that the clinical cases be
acquired within one month before or one month after the phantom was acquired. Many
sites had difficulty meeting these restrictive time frames. The new, more flexible
requirement only mandates that the clinical images may predate the application by up to
six months. The time for the clinical image acquisition relative to that of the phantom
image has also been eliminated.
International Medical Graduates
Q. I am the chair of a large academic practice. We have two radiologists who trained outside
the US who are considered experts in their field but do not meet the initial requirements
for ACR accreditation. How can we include them in our accreditation application?
A. The ACR recognizes that there are a number of highly qualified radiologists practicing in
this country that trained elsewhere. We will need to evaluate their credentials in more
detail. Please contact any one of the three staff below. They will let your radiologists
know what is needed and guide them through the process.
Pamela Wilcox
pwilcox@acr.org
Leonard Lucey
llucey@acr.org
Krista Bush
kbush@acr.org

General FAQs for MOC

Q.IfaradiologistreceivedhisABRcertificationin2002orearliertheyhavelifetime
certification and the 10 year MOC cycle does not apply, does this lifetime certification meet

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the requirements in lieu of obtaining a specific number of CME credits and exam counts per
modality?
A. No. Radiologists certified before 2002 have a life time certificate and are not required to
participate in MOC. However, if the radiologist voluntarily participates in MOC then they
would be qualified under the MOC pathway.
Q. For the MOC pathway for continuing experience and education, what documentation will
the ACR need to verify that the radiologist meets the requirement for this pathway?
A. The best way an ABR diplomat can do this now is with a screen shot from his/her ABR
personal database (home page). This page summarizes the MOC status, including a listing of
enrollments (which certificates), payment status, licenses by state and expiration date, CME
and SAMs, cognitive examination, and indication of compliance in PQI.

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