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Recently, the American College of Radiology (ACR), the oldest radiology organization in the United States, announced that it has imposed 11% of its workforce due to budget pressures, involving about 63 positions. It is also intended to increase the contribution fee by 10%.
The American College of Radiology is a well-known name in the field of global medical imaging, and it is the organization that created the famous BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System), which defines breast imaging results through several clear categories, so that medical professionals around the world have a common language to communicate the risk of breast cancer.
Founded in 1923, the American College of Radiology now has 40,000 members, 500 employees, and celebrated its centennial last year.
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Leadership change
For the first time in nearly a decade, membership fees have been raised
The layoffs and fee adjustments were announced at the ACR Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., April 13-17.
According to a PowerPoint presentation presented by ACR's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. William T. Thorwarth, ACR's operating loss is capped at $4 million in fiscal year 2024 and $2 million in fiscal year 2025, with total expenses of approximately $137 million. In order to achieve a balance in the operating budget for the 2026 financial year, the college's president's committee made a difficult decision to reduce the staff by about 11% and imposed a mandatory redundant on April 2.
According to Dr. Thorwarth, the layoffs were mainly affected by the pandemic, the increased costs to improve member services, and the cumulative results including inflation.
At the same time, after some heated debate, the ACR Board of Governors has voted to increase the organization's membership fee by 10%.
Beginning in 2025, active National Physician membership dues will increase by about $90, with smaller modifications for young radiographers and medical physicists. ACR contributions have remained unchanged since 2016, marking the first increase in ACR dues in eight years.
In addition, during the ACR 2024 meeting, a series of personnel appointments and dismissals were announced. Alan H. Matsumoto, MD, Fellow of the American College of Radiology (FACR) will serve as Chair of the ACR Committee (BOC). Christoph Wald, MD, PhD, MBA, FACR serves as Vice Chair. Pamela K. Woodard, MD, FACR, will serve as president. Catherine J. Everett, M.D., M.B.A., FACR serves as Vice President. The new officers take up their posts immediately after the end of ACR 2024.
Alan H. Matsumoto
Dr. Alan H. Matsumoto, who has served as chair of the BOC Interventional and Cardiovascular Imaging Committee and member of the ACR Committee Steering Committee, is a professor of radiology and former chair of the Department of Radiology at the University of Virginia. Matsumoto was also the first Asian-American to be appointed BOC chairman.
CEO William Thorwarth, MD,在ACR 2023年会发言
In addition, this year will also see the departure of ACR CEO William T. Thorwarth, who announced in the middle of last year that he would step down as CEO this year and retire on June 30, 2024. Thorwarth has led ACR for nearly a decade and has weathered the difficult times of the pandemic. During his tenure, ACR's membership grew by nearly 17% to reach 42,000 in 2023.
ACR has hired a headhunter to find Thorwarth's successor. As you can see, this year is destined to be a challenging and transformative year for ACR.
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An industry benchmark in the medical cold wave
The American College of Radiology has a unique mission and complex scope of practice.
Founded in 1923 and headquartered in Reston, Virginia, the Society is a professional organization of radiologists, radiation oncologists, and medical physicists.
Education and training enablers
Despite being a non-profit organization, ACR offers several fee-based services and resources. ACR provides education and training programs for radiologists and other health care professionals, as well as resources for patients and their families. At the same time, it sponsors research and clinical trials to advance the field of radiology.
Taking the training of radiology residents as an example, ACR evaluates the level of residents and the training effect of the hospitals and departments they train through the annual in-service examination of residents.
Many doctors in China also use ACR's Case in Point to learn cases online.
The ACR is free for medical students, residents, and fellowship trainees in the U.S. and Canada, and for physicians who have completed their training, the fee increases year by year, up to a maximum of $900 per year. The fee is $125 per year for foreign students and trainees, and $355 per year for doctors.
In addition, ACR provides radiologists with resources to keep them informed of changes in medical policies and reimbursement issues.
Radiology Guide Leader
ACR is also a leader in developing guidelines for radiology procedures, including those for the treatment of various types of cancer, such as ablation, embolization, and radiation therapy. The guidelines are developed by a panel of experts and review the latest research and clinical data to develop recommendations for best practice in radiology. For example, the BI-RADS system, the thyroid ACR grading standard TI-RADS, and so on.
Existing clinical parameters and technical standards are revised or updated every 5 years or at shorter intervals as necessary. Each clinical parameter and technical standard represents a statement of the Society's system, which has undergone an in-depth discussion, consensus process, and extensive review and approval.
JACR, the official journal of ACR, is a world-renowned academic journal that publishes quality control guidelines, expert consensus, and laws and regulations in radiology in the United States.
Authority on institutional equipment certification
ACR is the oldest and most widely recognized radiation oncology accrediting body in the United States to ensure that the treatment facilities being evaluated meet high standards of quality and safety.
Following peer-reviewed analysis by experts in the fields of radiation oncology and medical physics authorized by the Accreditation Board, ACR will accredit centers that meet the operational guidelines and technical standards set by ACR. ACR will evaluate the center's patient care and treatment, patient safety, staff expertise, equipment, quality control processes, and quality assurance programs. The results of the assessment will be reported to the ACR Radiation Oncology Accreditation Committee, which will then provide the center with a comprehensive report for future improvements.
Top institutions such as the Chicago Proton Therapy Center at Northwestern University School of Medicine, the Proton Therapy Center at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and the ProCure Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma have all been accredited by ACR.
ACR phantom
In terms of equipment, ACR has also established its own standards. For example, the testing and analysis of MR images based on ACR phantoms is the quality control standard for magnetic resonance recommended by ACR, which is the most widely used third-party MRI phantom and the quality control method adopted by most hospitals.
Advocate for the Act
ACR is also an advocate for industry bills.
For example, the well-known No Surprises Act, which was amended in 2020 by members of the ACR and the Medical Professions Writing Council, establishes a fairer process for dispute resolution between healthcare providers and insurers.
The original intention of the bill is to prevent patients from receiving huge medical bills outside of medical insurance and reduce the medical burden of the public, and it will officially come into effect on January 1, 2022. For example, if a patient needs to undergo surgery, the surgeon's fee is covered by medical insurance, but anesthesia is not covered by medical insurance, and according to the No Accidents Act, the cost of anesthesia is no longer borne by the patient, and they are only responsible for the deductible in medical insurance, and they can pay for the diagnosis and treatment expenses together with the insurance company.
The U.S. federal government estimates that the bill will reduce about 10 million unexpected medical bills for patients in the United States each year.
However, medical institutions, which are already facing rising costs after the implementation of the law, have added more burdens. Data shows that between 2021 and 2022, the number of bankruptcies in the U.S. healthcare industry increased by 84%, including large institutions such as Envision Healthcare and American Physician Partners (APP). The No Surprises Act is considered to be an important factor in the exacerbation of medical bankruptcies.
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In recent years, the U.S. healthcare industry has ushered in a peak of bankruptcy layoffs. According to Gibbins Advisors, a U.S. healthcare industry consulting firm, bankruptcy filings in the U.S. healthcare industry surged in 2023, with a total of 79 bankruptcy filings, the highest in the past five years (the number is more than three times the number in 2021, 1.7 times the number in 2022, and 51 in 2019).
LAYOFFS IN THE MEDTECH SECTOR HAVE SWEPT THE WORLD, WITH MORE THAN 18,000 LAYOFFS IN THE MEDTECH INDUSTRY SINCE MID-2022, INCLUDING MULTINATIONAL GIANTS, ACCORDING TO MASSDEVICE.
At the same time, there is a lot of pressure on the part of doctors. In October last year, 75,000 people from the Caesars Medical Union Union launched a general strike due to job pressure, staff shortages and dissatisfaction with wages, making it the largest medical strike in U.S. history.
The American Radiological Society, as an industry benchmark organization, is naturally not immune to the impact. So in the future, whether ACR can overcome economic pressure, and when will the entire industry usher in a warm spring?