RADPEER scoring white paper.

The ACR's RADPEER program began in 2002; the electronic version, e-RADPEER, was offered in 2005. To date, more than 10,000 radiologists and more than 800 groups are participating in the program. Since the inception of RADPEER, there have been continuing discussions regarding a number of issues, including the scoring system, the subspecialty-specific subcategorization of data collected for each imaging modality, and the validation of interfacility scoring consistency. This white paper reviews the task force discussions, the literature review, and the new recommended scoring process and lexicon for RADPEER.

Practice accreditation for radiation oncology: quality is reality.

The Radiation Oncology Practice Accreditation Program of the ACR is a voluntary program that was established in 1986. The processes of application and review are described. The most common causes of the deferral of accreditation are listed, as well as resources to help in preparing for an accreditation application. The costs of the survey and accreditation process are comparable with those of other accreditation programs outside of radiation oncology and the one competing radiation oncology accreditation program. The potential benefits of the program, financial and nonfinancial, are discussed, including the benefits to the specialty and to our patients. Possible integration with other programs, such as the pay-for-performance initiative and the maintenance of certification, are considered.

Pay for performance in radiology: ACR white paper.

During the next few years, some portion of physician reimbursement will be increasingly based on the quality and efficiency of service, a practice commonly referred to as pay for performance (P4P). Performance benchmarks are the discrete parameters of structure, process, or outcome metrics whose attainment defines good quality care. Private payers are already rewarding primary care physicians for practices that adhere to quality standards, are efficient, involve information technology, and result in high patient satisfaction. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will have completed the development of performance measures to be used in Medicare payment strategies for all specialties by the end of 2006 and anticipates phasing in the program fully by 2008. This article describes P4P, its importance to the ACR, the organizations involved in developing it, the ACR's activities to date, and the steps the ACR must take to ensure that radiologists are remunerated fairly as physician payment becomes based, in part, on performance.