Gifford Medical Center’s Nuclear Medicine and Mammography Departments have each received a three-year accreditation renewal after reviews by the American College of Radiology (ACR). These accreditations are awarded to confirm for patients that a facility meets quality assurance and safety guidelines, meets nationally accepted standards of care, and that the staff is well qualified.
Nuclear medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material (ingested by the patient) to diagnose and treat heart disease, several types of cancers, and many other abnormalities within the body. Mammography is a specific type of imaging test that uses a low-dose X-ray system to help detect and diagnose breast disease in women.
These ACR gold seals of accreditation represent the highest level of image quality and patient safety. They are awarded only to facilities meeting ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards after a peer-review evaluation by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. Image quality, personnel qualifications, adequacy of facility equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs are all assessed.
The ACR, founded in 1924, is a professional medical society dedicated to empowering radiology professionals to advance the practice, science and professions of radiological care. The College serves more than 37,000 diagnostic/interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, nuclear medicine physicians, and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.
