The American College of Radiology’s® (ACR's®) National Mammography Database® (NMD®) is a quality improvement registry that empowers radiologists and facility staff members to monitor and improve their facility's quality of breast imaging with minimal effort and complexity. NMD participation supports attaining the ACR Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence designation that requires participation in at least two registries.
Note: Watch the brief video of Lars Grimm, MD, NMD Committee Chair, describing the value of participation in the NMD.
Ease of Use
The registry collects standardized data elements that facilities already collect under the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA) and that are consistent with the ACR's Breast Imaging Reporting Data System® (BI-RADS®). Data collection is integrated with many commercial mammography reporting software vendors and homegrown systems for one-click data submission to the registry.
Performance Feedback Reports
Facilities access "real-time" interactive and quarterly PDF performance feedback reports that highlight performance on NMD measures such as recall rates, the timeliness of patients receiving recommended additional imaging or biopsy, and biopsy results. Facility and physician performance is compared across various peer groups and the entire registry. The reports are used to:
Demonstrate quality to executive leadership and payers.
Identify opportunities to improve the quality of care.
Gain insight into potential new lines of service and facility expansions.
Earn American Board of Radiology Part IV Maintenance of Certification credit by using NMD data to complete a practice quality improvement project.
Image 1: PDF report example