HVRA's Southbury Facility Receives ACR Accreditation Renewal for Mammography

August 10, 2004 - Housatonic Valley Radiological Associates (HVRA) announced today that its facility located at 800 Main Street South in Southbury, Connecticut has been awarded a three-year term renewal of accreditation for mammography as a result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology (ACR). HVRA performs thousands of mammograms annually at its Southbury and Danbury facilities.

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Virginia, awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of its practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment. The surveyors report their finding to the ACR's Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.

Mammography service providers in the United States are required to be certified by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which has designated the ACR as the accrediting body in accordance with the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) of 1992. Other ACR accreditation programs in stereotactic breast biopsy, ultrasound, breast ultrasound, MRI, nuclear medicine, radiation oncology, radiography/fluoroscopy and CT scan are voluntary and demonstrate a facility's ongoing commitment to patient care. HVRA holds ACR accreditation for high field MRI, mammography, spiral CT (CAT) scan, and general, breast, obstetrics and vascular ultrasound.

"ACR accreditation is the community standard for quality and service that all patients should expect from their radiology provider," said Dr. Conrad Ehrlich, medical director at Housatonic Valley Radiological Associates. "HVRA is committed to achieving the highest levels of excellence and professionalism for all of its diagnostic imaging programs to ensure accuracy, professionalism, and the best patient experience."