NIH to require tracking of radiation exposure

The National Institutes of Health is turning to electronic medical records to keep track of radiation exposure. It will require CT makers and other radiation-producing imaging systems used at NIH clinics to include capabilities that will track radiation doses and then enter that information on patients' electronic medical records.

"All vendors who sell imaging equipment to Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center will be required to provide a routine means for radiation dose exposure to be recorded in the electronic medical record," said David A. Bluemke, MD, director of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the NIH Clinical Center. "This requirement will allow cataloging of radiation exposures from these medical tests."

The move comes in the wake of reports that repeated CTs have been exposing patients to unacceptable doses of radiation. CT scanners are much stronger than X-rays and have been in increasing use in the past 30 years.

"The cancer risk from low-dose medical radiation tests is largely unknown. Yet it is clear that the U.S. population is increasingly being exposed to more diagnostic-test-derived ionizing radiation than in the past," said Bluemke.

It may be premature to add more record-keeping requirements to EMRs even before the systems get off the ground.

For more on the NIH plan:
- see this Healthcare IT News article

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