Rome Hospital’s MRI department receives accreditation renewal

ROME, N.Y. — Rome Memorial Hospital announced it has recently been awarded a renewal of its three-year accreditation by the American College of Radiology (ACR) for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) services.

“ACR accreditation acknowledges that our patients receive the best possible images, using the latest technology with the highest safety measures,” Sharon Carson, medical imaging director, contended in a news release.

The hospital’s MRI staff is led by Craig Pole, imaging supervisor, and Dr. John Restivo, Medical Imaging Department chairman.

The ACR is a nonprofit professional society that seeks to advance the science of radiology, improve radiologic services to the patient, study the socioeconomic aspects of the practice of radiology, and encourage continuing education for radiologists, radiation oncologists, medical physicists, and persons practicing in allied professional fields, the release explained.

The ACR accreditation program evaluates staff and radiologist qualifications, equipment, quality control, quality assurance, accuracy, and image quality. Accreditation is awarded only to facilities meeting the “most stringent” practice guidelines and technical standards. 

To receive the renewal of their accreditation, Rome Memorial’s MRI staff had to perform and submit written and clinical testing over a 45-day period that included physics testing, clinical image gathering, and a review of scan perimeters, technologist/radiologist credentials, and MRI policies, according to Pole.

Rome Memorial Hospital is an affiliate of St. Joseph’s Health in Syracuse.