Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR
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As described in the previous article in this series, the United States is in the midst of a medical liability insurance crisis. Research conducted in the wake of similar previous insurance environments has shown that only a fraction of patient injury as a result of negligent medical care is addressed by today's tort malpractice system. ⋯ These mechanisms should be evaluated in terms of three key factors: (1) the adequacy of compensation to injured patients, (2) the prevention of future medical injury, and (3) their overall cost and administrative feasibility. Whatever reform mechanism or combination of mechanisms is pursued should represent an improvement on today's existing tort malpractice system.
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The ACR's Practice Guidelines, Technical Standards, and Appropriateness Criteria are useful tools in resident education. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) is increasing its focus on assessing educational outcomes in resident education to ensure that graduating residents have achieved competence to the level expected of new practitioners. The Appropriateness Criteria can be used to educate residents in cost-effective imaging practice, while the Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards are useful tools for educating residents in patient care. Incorporating these ACR resources into the resident curriculum and the goals and objectives of the training program provides a means of addressing the new ACGME requirements.