Page 42 - 2022 Risk Basics - Radiology

SVMIC Risk Basics: Radiology

document outlines specific situations in which the radiologist, “should

expedite the delivery of a diagnostic imaging report in a manner… that
insures timely receipt of the finding”.

The ACR publishes an annual Practice Guidelines and Technical

Standards. Because of its preeminence, the ACR’s Guidelines and
Standards are extremely authoritative from a legal standpoint.

Notwithstanding the fact that the ACR explicitly states in its printed
material that its Guidelines do not constitute or reflect the standard of

care, these Guidelines and Standards do greatly influence the court as
well as plaintiffs’ attorneys who are familiar with these guidelines. As one

state Supreme Court noted, “we do not hold that the standards in and of
themselves establish a standard of care, but the published standards or

guidelines of a specialty organization are useful in determining the duty
.
and/or the standard of care applicable to given situation” This statement
15
is contradictory on its face but is useful to emphasize the importance
placed on the Guidelines.

In a broadly-distributed survey of radiologists published in 2005, out of
172 members of the ACR who responded that they had been involved

in a lawsuit, 43 of them (25 percent) stated that the ACR Guidelines
were referenced in the lawsuit in which they were either defendants or

experts. As previously stated, plaintiffs’ attorneys are intimately familiar
16
with the ACR Guidelines.

Radiologists who are defendants in malpractice lawsuits can expect to

be browbeat by the plaintiffs’ attorneys during cross-examination using
the ACR Guidelines. Moreover, the plaintiff’s radiology experts will testify

that the Guidelines are reflective of the standard of care, placing the

15 Stanley v. McCarver, 92 P3d 849 (Ariz. 2004)
16 Kushner DC, Lucey LL, American College of Radiology. Diagnostic radiology reporting in communication: the
ACR Guideline, J Am Coll Radiol 2005; 2:15-21.

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