American College of Radiology announces significant expansion of Lung Cancer Screening Registry
The American College of Radiology (ACR) has announced significant changes to its Lung Cancer Screening Registry. In fact, the registry is getting a whole new name—and will be known as the Early Lung Cancer Detection Registry by the end of 2025.
ACR plans to expand the registry so that it supports diagnostic performance feedback on how care teams are managing incidental pulmonary nodules (IPNs) identified during screening examinations. Are IPNs being handled in a way that reflects the ACR’s recommendations? Are follow-up actions occurring at reasonable times? By tracking these details more closely, the ACR hopes it can help reach more of the patients with IPNs who are typically lost to follow-up over time.
“Lung cancer screening and IPN programs are complementary pathways to detect lung cancer early in patients across different risk populations and insurance profiles when curative treatment is still possible,” Ella Kazerooni, MD, chair of the National Radiology Data Registry and vice chair of the ACR Quality and Safety Commission, said in a statement.
“The new Lung Cancer Screening Registry module can help facilities track performance of IPN recommendation appropriateness and completion of follow up performance over time—informing areas for improvement—opening a second front to detect and treat lung cancer,” added Ben Wandtke, MD, physician lead of the ACR Learning Network Recommendations Follow-Up Collaborative and vice chair of the ACR Quality and Safety Commission.
These updates to the ACR’s lung cancer screening efforts are being funded by a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation grant overseen by the University of California at San Francisco and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. Click here for additional details.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.