ACR and ARRS Merger?

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American College of Radiology and American Roentgen Ray Society have announced that there is intensive discussion regarding a merger of the two very large and successful radiology societies. An FAQ was release by the ACR at their annual meeting which basically states the following: FAQs Why is the college considering this? - There are 55 separate radiology organizations, and that this dissipates resources in terms of both human and monetary resources; disparity also creates too many voices resulting in too many messages - The ACR and ARRS are very closely aligned - the ACR and ARRS strengths are complementary but some functions are duplicative Why now? - Near culmination of negotiation process - Meeting schedules previously precluded finalization - Another year's delay, additional leadership changes would add little and would certainly complicate the process How will this benefit ACR members? - begins needed consolidation of radiology orgnaizations - ARRS educational expertise coupled with ACR resources will create more and better tools to help members meet ABR maintenance of certiication (MOC) and planned state demonstration of competence requirements - Brings in about 60% of non-ACR members - Creates bigger "voice of radiology" for advocacy What are the details? - Negotiations are still ongoing - ARRS will become corporate subsidiary of the ACR - Council will retain all current authority and functions - Educational functions will be merged - Staffs will be merged These are just preliminaries and nothing is written in stone. The above statements are drafted based on a flyer distributed at the ACR meeting so this is hot off the press! Please stay tuned for final details but a potential merger of the ACR and ARRS truly may be a great event for radiology!