[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 21, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1913]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGY ON ITS FIRST 75 
                                 YEARS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 21, 1999

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, among the greatest advances of medicine in 
this century has been the development and professionalization of 
radiology. Therefore, I rise today to congratulate the American College 
of Radiology and its 31,000 members on its 75th anniversary.
  While the numbers of diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists 
and medical physicists comprising the college have changed 
dramatically, the ACR's main objective has not. Through the years, 
working with Members of Congress, key Federal, State, and local 
agencies and a wide variety of health care and consumer organizations, 
the college has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of patient 
care.
  The American College of Radiology has met this objective through 
numerous programs. Beginning with mammography, ACR has initiated 
several national accreditation programs designed to assure high quality 
performance from both health care professionals and imaging equipment. 
In addition to mammography, accreditation programs are in place for 
ultrasound, radiation oncology, stereotactic needle breast biopsy, 
magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound-guided breast biopsy.
  ACR's groundbreaking mammography accreditation program, which began 
as a voluntary effort in 1987, now has become a nationally mandated 
program. In part, as a result of this program and other breast cancer 
early detection promotion efforts, the National Cancer Institute has 
recorded, for the past few years, the first declines in mortality from 
breast cancer.
  In addition to accreditation, the ACR has improved the quality of 
care through its Performance Standards \TM\, Appropriateness Criteria 
\TM\, life-saving research through clinical trials and medical 
continuing education programs for members.
  The performance standards are principles for delivering high quality 
radiological care. They are revised and expanded every year. The 
standards cover a wide variety of procedures. The Appropriateness 
Criteria \TM\ ensure that the most appropriate examination is done in 
the most appropriate setting at the most appropriate time. More than 
500 medical experts have assisted in developing these criteria.
  The college also offers numerous continuing education seminars each 
year.
  ACR manages the federally funded Radiation Therapy Oncology Group 
(RTOG). This organization carries out multidisciplinary cancer trials 
nationwide. RTOG has gathered numerous medical facilities in providing 
state-of-the-art treatment for a wide variety of cancers.
  As a complement to RTOG, the college also operates the Radiological 
Diagnostic Oncology Group (RDOG). This program evaluates current and 
emerging imaging technologies used in the management of patients with 
malignant disease. NCI funds RDOG so that the group may provide a 
timely approach for the cost-effective use of new technologies.

  Even before the ACR initiated its quality improvement and research 
programs, radiologists were deeply involved in working to improve 
patient care. World War I, for example, presented a great need and a 
great opportunity for radiology. One of the founders of the college, 
Dr. Edwin Ernst, recalls how using a table built by German prisoners, 
and a rolling floor fluoroscopic gas tube, he pinpointed the location 
of bullet fragments. And radiologists in general played a major role in 
treating and diagnosing patients in those rugged field hospitals.
  Later, in the 1920's the International Radiological Congress helped 
to standardize measurement. The ACR also worked to secure financing of 
the x-ray equipment at the Bureau of Standards.
  It was also in the 1920's that the American College of Radiology was 
born as two dozen radiologists gathered for the first time officially 
to transact the business of the college: to plan ways to improve their 
profession's expertise.
  When the United States entered World War II, radiologists mobilized 
to serve their country. The college volunteered to handle radiology 
manpower issues for the Army. The growth and development of radiology 
after World War paralled post-war growth of the Nation.
  In the early 1950's, three dedicated members of the college--Drs. 
Eddie Ernst, Wally Wasson and Ben Orndoff--began to cajole, badger and 
convince their fellow radiologists into preserving the history of their 
profession. In 1955 they gathered for the first time as the Gas Tube 
Gang. The gas tube was the symbol of the early imaging technology.
  Through their efforts the college's archive's was created and today 
it is filled with gas tubes, other early radiological devices, mementos 
from Dr. Roentgen, Madame Curie and other pioneers, and pages and pages 
of rich history of the ACR and the field of radiology.
  So it is with all of this history in mind and the great contributions 
the ACR has made to the practice of medicine that I wish the American 
College of Radiology well on its 75th and continued success in the 
years to come.

                          ____________________