Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR
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Pediatric patients might be as much as 10 times more radiosensitive than adults. Thus, adherence to the principle of "As low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA) represents a practice mandate that minimizes ionizing radiation exposure while optimizing imaging results. This symposium is the third multidisciplinary program that focused on the ALARA principle in pediatric imaging and addressed issues associated with pediatric fluoroscopy and interventional imaging techniques.
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In recent years, some commercial health plans have instituted privileging and site accreditation programs for providers of diagnostic imaging. This article describes how these programs work and points out that they can help restrict self-referral and the overutilization that accompanies it. Another advantage is that they can help eliminate low-quality providers. Radiologists should encourage health plans in their area to develop and implement these measures.