American College of Radiology officials are supporting voluntary self-assessment tests for mammographers, according to a statement released today. On Tuesday, during a Senate committee hearing to discuss the reauthorization of the Mammography Quality Standards Act, members debated adding mandatory mammography skills testing to the MQSA.
Dr. David Dershaw and Dr. Leonard Berlin testified on behalf of radiology at the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee (HELP) session. They discussed the role of self-assessment on quality care in breast imaging, and the importance of keeping self-assessment results -- mandatory or voluntary -- out of the hands of the legal community.
Dershaw is the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City; Berlin is chairman of the department of radiology at Rush North Shore Medical Center in Chicago.
In a written statement, Dr. Stephen Amis, chairman of the ACR board of chancellors, said he was confident that the HELP committee would give careful consideration to the concerns of the breast imaging community.
Related Reading
Radiologists say training, not tests, will hone mammography skills, April 10, 2003
Lawmakers mull mandatory testing of radiologists' skills in reading mammograms, April 8, 2003
Recently trained radiologists may interpret mammograms more accurately, February 27, 2003
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