In April of 2019, the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) released a position statement outlining reasons for limiting the routine use of fetal and gonadal shielding in medical imaging. This position statement has since been endorsed by the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Canadian Organization of Medical Physics (COMP), the Health Physics Society (HPS),the Canadian Association of Radiologists (CAR), the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine (ACPSEM), and the Image Gently Alliance. We understand this is a substantial change in clinical practice, and will continue to work with sites in this transition.

Click here to review the AAPM’s Frequently Asked Questions regarding the policy shift.

Effective January 1, 2019, The Joint Commission will implement several standards changes designed to enhance the provision of safe, high-quality imaging services for ambulatory care organizations, critical access hospitals, hospitals, and office-based surgery practices. Most of these standards changes focus on fluoroscopy; however, one of them revises required tests for computed tomography units, and another establishes a radiation safety officer. The changes were made to clarify expectations and address areas of risk associated with imaging. The standards changes will be displayed on the Prepublication Standards page of The Joint Commission website and will published online in the fall 2018 update. The revisions will also be included in the 2019 hard copy publications of the Comprehensive Accreditation Manuals for the ambulatory care, critical access hospital, and hospital programs.

Please click here for the new Fluoroscopy Updates effective January 1st, 2019.