As part of its mission, ACRO developed a Practice Accreditation Program in 1995, consisting of practice standards for radiation oncology. Accreditation is a voluntary process in which professional peers identify standards indicative of a quality practice, and an audit is conducted to assure that these standards are followed. Since its establishment, the accreditation program has undergone periodic revisions to reflect clinical and scientific advances within the field, providing for the safe and effective practice of radiation therapy. Currently the 228 practices are accredited by ACRO with a number of facilities in the process of review or renewal.

With the current environment of increased public and governmental concerns about the safety of radiation therapy, the ACRO Board of Chancellors has directed that a review of the current standards and processes used to establish accredited status be undertaken. This will assure that ACRO accreditation continues to identify standards indicative of a quality practice and recognize facilities that meet them.

Therefore, a TEMPORARY HOLD has been placed on all new and uncompleted accreditation processing until the review has been completed. This temporary hold has been implemented to make it possible for this review to be done thoroughly and as quickly as possible. Please understand that this decision has been made in the interest of improving patient care and safety on a national level.

Consequently, we cannot begin to process new applications at this time. However, we anticipate that the accreditation process will begin on or around September 1, 2010.

In the meantime, accreditation expiration dates have been extended by 6 months for all currently accredited facilities.

For additional information, or to discuss your specific situation, please contact Rebecca Dayton at rdayton@acro.org or 301-718-6536. Thank you for your patience as we work to assure that accreditation by ACRO is evidence of quality of patient care in radiation oncology.

Norman Wallis, PhD
Executive Director
nwallis@acro.org
301-718-6539