National Mammography Database (NMD) Features

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

Advancing Practice

Submitting data to the NMD enables the development of an extensive database that supports

research into national practice trends, patterns of care and care gaps. A list of publications developed using NMD data is available on the NRDR Publications page. 

The NRDR Data Analysis and Publications Policy provides detailed information about how to request support to carry out an investigation using NMD aggregate data.  

Fees

For facilities participating in the NRDR's Dose Index Registry or the General Radiology Improvement Database, no additional fee is required to participate in NMD. Otherwise, the annual NMD participation fee is based on the number of radiologists interpreting mammography images at a facility and the number of sites included in that facility.

NMD Star Status Program

The ACR launched the NMD Start Status program in 2018 to provide recognition to Corporate Accounts that meet high-quality data submission targets across all their NMD participating facilities. Corporate Accounts that achieve one of three performance categories receive a financial award, applied toward NRDR annual fee as follows:

Gold: $500

Silver: $300

Bronze: $100

Corporate Account quarterly feedback reports include an evaluation of screening exam data completeness and provide a breakdown of performance at the Corporate Account level and by each Facility as shown in the example report below:

Corporate Accounts that achieve NMD Star Status will also receive a certificate indicating their NMD Star Status for use in marketing programs to highlight their screening quality.