title: Patient Dose Management: Focus on Practical Actions.
abstract: Medical radiation is a very important part of modern medicine, and should be only used when needed and optimized. Justification and optimization of radiation examinations must be performed. The first step of reduction of medical exposure is to know the radiation dose in currently performed examinations. This review covers radiation units, how various imaging modalities report dose, and the current status of radiation dose reports and legislation. Also, practical tips that can be applied to clinical practice are introduced. Afterwards, the importance of radiology exposure related education is emphasized and the current status of education for medical personal and the public is explained, and appropriate education strategies are suggested. Commonly asked radiation dose related example questions and answers are provided in detail to allow medical personnel to answer patients. Lastly, we talk about computerized programs that can be used in medical facilities for managing patient dose. While patient dose monitoring and management should be used to decrease and optimize overall radiation dose, it should not be used to assess individual cancer risk. One must always remember that medically justified examinations should always be performed, and unneeded examinations should be avoided in the first place.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Michael Yong
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5247-1475
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, Seoul, Korea .
authors.forename: Seung Eun
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0674-5444
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011835:Radiation Protection; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Justification; Medical Exposure; Optimization; Radiation Protection; Radiation, Ionizing