Premium
MO‐F‐224‐01: Preparing for Diagnostic ACR Accreditation
Author(s) -
Hernandez D
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
medical physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.473
H-Index - 180
eISSN - 2473-4209
pISSN - 0094-2405
DOI - 10.1118/1.3612995
Subject(s) - accreditation , medicine , medical imaging , medical physics , reimbursement , mammography , quality assurance , radiology , medical education , health care , breast cancer , pathology , external quality assessment , cancer , economics , economic growth
The American College of Radiology is a professional society and membership organization made up of radiologists, medical physicists, radiation oncologists and nuclear medicine physicians dedicated to making imaging safe and effective. The primary mission of the ACR is to serve patients and society by advancing the science of radiology, improving the quality of patient care, providing continuing education and conducting research for the future of radiology. The ACR has a long history of developing and administrating accreditation programs. The purpose of the various accreditation programs is to set quality standards for practices and to help improve the quality of care given to patients. Accreditation is a peer review process designed to be educational and evaluates personnel qualifications, policies and procedures, equipment performance, effectiveness of quality control measures and the quality of clinical images. The Diagnostic Modality Accreditation Program (DMAP) incorporates all of the ACR accreditation programs with the exception of mammography and radiation oncology. The current programs include Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Breast Ultrasound, Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Nuclear Medicine, PET, Stereotactic Breast Biopsy and Ultrasound. While mammography accreditation is required by the FDA under MQSA, facilities seeking ACR accreditation in the other diagnostic modalities have done so voluntarily but for a variety of reasons including the MIPAA mandate requiring the providers of advanced diagnostic services that bill under part B of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to be accredited by January 1, 2012 in order to receive technical component reimbursement from Medicare. ACR accreditation is a team process. The medical physicist plays a critical role in the process. A basic understanding of the overall accreditation process is crucial to the achievement of accreditation. Educational Objectives 1. Understand the basics of the ACR diagnostic modality accreditation process 2. Understand the important roles of the medical physicist in the accreditation process