With a turnaround time rivaling that of pop singer Britney Spears’ recent marriage, the public flirtation between two of radiology’s largest organizations has ended.
Just two business days after announcing they were "exploring increased collaborative efforts" that could have led to a merger, the American College of Radiology (ACR) announced today that talks with the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) had ended.
"We have stopped any further discussion of any type of collaboration or merger," confirmed Dr. E. Stephen Amis, Jr., the chairman of the ACR board of chancellors and chairman of radiology at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City, in an interview with AuntMinnie.com.
However, the press release noted that the organizations will "continue to seek ways to collaborate for the benefit of the radiology profession" -- a perspective echoed by ARRS president Dr. James Thrall, chief of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
"I would not characterize it as ‘end of collaboration talks,’" said Thrall regarding the announcement. "It’s been a very natural process to have discussions about how we might work more closely together, in particular on educational issues. And I would characterize those discussions as having no discernible starting point, and ongoing."
The two organizations are already very close, Thrall noted. As one of the organizations that helped found the ACR, the ARRS has a permanent seat on the ACR’s board of chancellors. ARRS’ headquarters and staff were also located in the ACR’s Virginia building as of the mid-1990s, Thrall added.
Thrall acknowledged, however, that recent talks toward a merger of the two groups were moribund.
"We’ve not broken any new ground in our discussions," he said. Yet, he noted, "Nothing is foreclosed in our discussions."
The ACR’s announcement served less to denote a termination than as a way to lower expectations among observers, Thrall said.
"It’s hard for two organizations of the size and prestige of the Roentgen Ray and the ACR to be known to have leadership discussing things without rumors running rampant," Thrall said. He said he hadn’t received any complaints from ARRS members, however, about the reported discussions.
ACR chairman Amis said he didn’t regret that the talks were revealed, only to cease a few days later. He noted that he and others had already expressed concerns about the plethora of organizations in the field.
"I think it’s very wise for radiology organizations to start thinking like this; we’ve got like 45 or 50 of them," Amis said. "If you look at the intersociety meeting in the summer, which is sponsored by the ACR, I believe it is 45 organizations that are invited to send representatives."
In the case of the ACR and ARRS, a combined effort would have created even stronger educational products for radiologists, Amis said.
"That would have been one of the major reasons for us collaborating," he said.
"I think leadership on both sides said, ‘Let’s talk about it and see if there’s any potential there.’ We did, and there wasn’t at this time, and everybody parted friends."
"We are going to continue to beef up our educational products, particularly in regard to maintenance of certification," Amis said. "That’s going to put a lot of strain on a lot of specialty organizations to meet the demands for that maintenance of certification."
And the possibility of an ACR-ARRS merger may be revived down the road, Amis suggested.
"Sometime in the future, who knows? Somebody will bring it up again and relook at it," Amis said. "But right now was just not the correct time."
By Tracie L. ThompsonAuntMinnie.com staff writer
February 2, 2004
Related Reading
ACR, ARRS announce talks on ‘collaboration’, January 29, 2004
Stanley named editor of AJR, May 15, 2003
JACR to become primary ACR publication, January 31, 2003
ACR says renewals not affected by higher dues, February 7, 2002
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