Abstract
The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is a nonprofit professional society whose primary purposes are to advance the science, education, and professional practice of medical physics. The AAPM has more than 8,000 members and is the principal organization of medical physicists in the United States.The AAPM will periodically define new practice guidelines for medical physics practice to help advance the science of medical physics and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Existing medical physics practice guidelines will be reviewed for the purpose of revision or renewal, as appropriate, on their fifth anniversary or sooner.Each medical physics practice guideline represents a policy statement by the AAPM, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, and requires the approval of the Professional Council. The medical physics practice guidelines recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques, as described in each document. Reproduction or modification of the published practice guidelines and technical standards by those entities not providing these services is not authorized.
Highlights
The review and management of computed tomography (CT) protocols is a facility’s ongoing mechanism of ensuring that exams being performed achieve the desired diagnostic image quality at the lowest radiation dose possible while properly exploiting the capabilities of the equipment being used
The AAPM considers these activities to be essential to any quality assurance (QA) program for CT, and as an ongoing investment in improved quality of patient care
CT exam protocols are used to obtain the diagnostic image quality required for the exam, while minimizing radiation dose to the patient and ensuring the proper utilization of the scanner features and capabilities
Summary
The review and management of computed tomography (CT) protocols is a facility’s ongoing mechanism of ensuring that exams being performed achieve the desired diagnostic image quality at the lowest radiation dose possible while properly exploiting the capabilities of the equipment being used. Protocol management and review are essential activities in ensuring patient safety and acceptable image quality. These activities have been explicitly identified as essential by several states(1-2) regulatory and accreditation groups such as the American College of Radiology (ACR) CT Accreditation program,(3) as well as the Joint Commission in its Sentinel Event Alert,(4) among others. Protocol Management refers to the process of review, implementation, and verification of protocols within a facility’s practice. This is a complex undertaking in the present environment. The ability to quickly identify an outlier protocol parameter would be hugely beneficial to the CT protocol review process
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