Revision History
Active participation in a peer review program is a requirement for facilities applying for CT, MR, NM, PET, US, Breast Ultrasound and Breast MRI accreditation. RADPEER® is a product of ACR and provides a simple, cost-effective process that allows peer review to be performed during routine image interpretation. A physician will often review prior images while interpreting a new exam. RADPEER draws upon this process as an opportunity for re-evaluation and, therefore, peer review and practice quality improvement.
Please note that the purchase and/or use of the RADPEER product is an option for fulfilling the peer review requirement for accreditation. Facilities may also use other peer review products or create their own.
The RADPEER process is conducted during routine interpretation of images. If there are prior images of the same area of interest when a new study is being interpreted, the report of the previous study will be reviewed. This constitutes a peer review process. Through RADPEER, the accuracy of the image interpretation is scored by the reviewer using a standardized rating scale. The process requires no additional interpretive work on the part of the physician.
RADPEER allows submission of scores and report acquisition through a secure website. After submission of practice data, the group chair or medical director can access the reports online at any time. These reports provide:
Summary statistics and comparisons by modality for every participating physician
Group summary data by modality
Data summed across all RADPEER participants
The ACR does not require a minimum number of reviews per physician. Your group may optionally elect to choose a target number of RADPEER submissions as part of your internal quality assurance program, but this is not mandatory.
Because we do not collect any protected health information (PHI), patient confidentiality is not an issue. Groups are identified only by group ID numbers and physicians are identified by physician ID numbers known only to the group. RADPEER reports are privileged and confidential peer review information.
Peer review requirements apply to CT, MR, nuclear medicine, PET, ultrasound and breast ultrasound. Mammography, stereotactic breast biopsy, ultrasound-guided breast biopsy, breast MRI, and radiation oncology are not included; however, breast imaging facilities are welcome to participate in RADPEER.
The annual participation fee is based on number of participants.
For more information, visit the ACR’s RADPEER site.
Revision History for this Article | ||
Date | Section | Description of Revision(s) |
12-12-19 | All | Article created; FAQs incorporated; No criteria changes |