The Early Lung Cancer Detection Registry will help facilities monitor and improve follow-up for incidental pulmonary nodules.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) Lung Cancer Screening Registry is expanding and will evolve into the Early Lung Cancer Detection Registry in late 2025.
The Lung Cancer Screening Registry expansion will support diagnostic performance feedback on management of actionable incidental pulmonary nodules (IPNs) using current ACR Learning Network Recommendations Follow-Up Collaborative measures. These measures focus on the quality of radiology report recommendations and timely follow-up completion rates.
IPNs are the most common actionable incidental finding in radiology exams and have become more common as imaging resolution improves. Approximately half of patients with lung cancer found as an IPN are not eligible for lung cancer screening. An estimated 60% of patients with IPNs are lost to follow-up.
In addition to the current performance feedback provided for lung cancer screening exams, the new Early Lung Cancer Detection Registry will help healthcare organizations improve management of IPNs through diagnostic performance feedback and benchmarking.
‘Opening a Second Front to Detect and Treat Lung Cancer’
“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,” says Ella Kazerooni, MD, National Radiology Data Registry chair and vice chair of the ACR Quality and Safety Commission, in a release.
Ben Wandtke, MD, physician lead of the ACR Learning Network Recommendations Follow-Up Collaborative and vice chair of the ACR Quality and Safety Commission, adds in a release, “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.”
The new Lung Cancer Screening Registry module is 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.
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