Here are recent examples of the successes two of our sites reported to their radiation safety committees. This first example is a chart showing one facility’s average monthly Total DLP for its Chest Angio studies from early 2016 through Q1 2018. Overall, this site reduced its average Total DLP for its Chest Angio studies by… Read More
I just returned from having presented at the Health Connect Partners 2017 Radiology & Imaging Conference. My topic: Using the DIR to Meet TJC’s Dose Incident Identification & Review Requirements. During the presentation I gave an overview of the DIR and shared what we’ve learned from having participated in it for four years, including specific… Read More
During the 2017 Landauer Clinical Dose Optimization Symposium one of the session speakers, Douglas Pfeiffer, a medical physicist with Blackthorn Medical Physics, reported he had found the table-head rest extension connection mechanism increased CTDIvol and DLP when the body part being imaged was positioned over the connection mechanism. Following the symposium, we worked with a… Read More
One of the more interesting and unique benefits Dose Registry Support Services’ DoseID Program has for facilities is its ability to shed light on duplicate and superfluous protocols in use at their facilities. The table to the right shows how one facility had 7 different protocols being used on a single scanner during a recent 3 month… Read More
DRSS is now providing clients with the following 8 draft policies it may adapt for use at their facilities: [Facility Name] CT Dose Optimization Policy [Facility Name] Quality Control and Maintenance Activities Policy [Facility Name] Physicist Evaluation Policy [Facility Name] Verification and Documentation of Medical Physicist Qualifications Policy [Facility Name] Verification and Documentation of CT… Read More
Here is the Abstract and link to an article I co-authored which was recently published in the JACR online edition, and which will be published in the JACR August print edition. The article describes how we used our ACR Dose Index Registry data to meet The Joint Commission’s requirement to establish expected dose ranges for every CT protocol and… Read More
The following question was submitted to the Joint Commission: Must we establish an expected dose range for every imaging protocol or can we pick and choose the protocols for which we establish expected dose ranges and monitor only those? I interpret [PI.02.01.01.A.6.] to require monitoring of every protocol we use, not just some portion of… Read More
This article describes how the ACR’s Dose Index Registry (DIR) can be used to perform both incident identification and external benchmarking as required by the Joint Commission’s (TJC) 2015 Diagnostic Imaging Standards issued August 10, 2015. Read More
The Joint Commission (TJC) released its updated Diagnostic Imaging Requirements August 10, 2015. While many of these new requirements paired nicely with the new XR-29 equipment standards for dose recording and alerting the technologist when the system “projects” the prescribed scans will exceed the user-configured value (i.e., a pre-exam alert), the section titled Element of Performance for PI.02.01.01 A6. presents… Read More
Dose Registry Support Services