Crouse Hospital is designated as a lung-cancer screening center

SYRACUSE — The American College of Radiology (ACR) has designated Crouse Hospital as a lung-cancer screening center.

The Crouse medical imaging team received the designation because of its “demonstrated expertise and commitment to quality patient care by meeting or exceeding a set of technical specifications and completing onsite evaluations by a review team from ACR,” according to a Crouse Hospital news release.

“This designation affirms our commitment to providing the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic services available in the region,” Brad Hellwig, director of medical imaging at Crouse, said in the release.

In early 2015, Crouse launched its lung-cancer screening program to provide low-dose lung CT screening for current and former smokers at high risk for developing the disease. The goal of this screening is to find lung cancer early, when it is most treatable.

Lung cancer is the second leading type of cancer and makes up 13 percent of all new cancer cases in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. About 400,000 patients in the U.S. have lung cancer.

The goal of the ACR is to help facilities manage the lung-cancer patient more efficiently. Accreditation by the ACR helps assure patients that the highest level of image quality and safety is being provided, according to the release. The process documents that the facility meets requirements for equipment, medical personnel, and quality assurance. Since 1987, the ACR has accredited more than 38,000 facilities in 10 imaging modalities.