| Categories: MRI Accreditation | Author: Resonant Healthcare Imaging Solutions | 0
MRI accreditation provides many important benefits for your diagnostic or orthopaedic imaging facility. However, if you are considering MRI accreditation, you are probably wondering what the process entails and how long it takes. To help you be as prepared as possible before you start your MRI accreditation journey, here is a step-by-step outline of the typical accreditation process.
The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) offer MRI accreditation. Although the accreditations issued by each of these organizations are approved by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and will permit non-hospital advanced diagnostic imaging facilities to bill for MRI services under Medicare Part B’s Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, state law and private insurance accreditation requirements may differ. You should work with a qualified MRI accreditation consultant to help you determine what accreditation is best for your facility.
To give your facility the best chance of smooth sailing throughout the MRI accreditation process, you will need to build an accreditation team of qualified, dedicated personnel. Your team should include:
Your facility will be required to complete an application (usually online) and pay the accreditation fee. Although the process and fees may differ slightly depending on which accreditation your facility decides to pursue, most accreditation organizations use an online application and require payment of the fee at the time of application.
After your facility has completed its application and paid the accreditation fee, your team will be required to provide detailed information on all aspects of the facility’s operation, including personnel and their training, quality-control procedures, quality-assurance programs, and equipment testing. Your accreditation organization will provide you with information detailing the specific submissions it requires.
Your facility also will be required to submit clinical images or case studies. Depending on the type of accreditation you are pursuing, you may be required to send images for specific modalities and other documentation including scanning protocols, patient reports, phantom images, and dose measurements. Although some accreditation organizations are now accepting electronic image submission, you should carefully follow the submission instructions to avoid potential mix-ups.
Your facility should also carefully adhere to the requirements for the images, such as the number of images required for each scanner and whether you should submit phantom and clinical images on different films, and pay close attention to whether the images are eligible for submission if they were taken prior to the application date. You should be sure to check your images before you submit them to avoid costly errors or omissions, and, of course, they should showcase your facility’s best work.
When submitting your information to the accreditation organization, it is very important that you adhere to the organization’s deadlines. Not only will this keep your accreditation application on track, but it will prevent your application from expiring. Although extensions may be granted under very limited circumstances, an expired MRI accreditation application could result in unrecoverable application fees, lost time and duplicated effort as you restart the process.
Now that all the information gathering is behind you, all that is left to do is wait. The application review process usually takes 8-12 weeks, during which time your facility’s images and other documentation will be reviewed by industry experts. Keep in mind that your accreditation organization will typically reserve the right to conduct a site visit at any time before or after accreditation.
You will receive notification from your accrediting organization stating whether you passed or failed. If you passed, congratulations! If you fail, you should gather your team and carefully review the reasons for the failure. Generally, your facility can elect to appeal or repeat testing and you will receive information on how to proceed depending on the option you choose. If your facility decides to repeat testing, you will have to submit a request to resubmit and pay another fee.
Accreditation expires in three years. To maintain your accreditation, it is critical for your facility to perform all required quality-control tasks and participate in annual performance testing and continuing medical education. It also is important to keep a record of these activities, just in case someone from your accreditation organization decides to make a site visit.
You also should be sure to proudly display your accreditation certificate and update your website and patient-facing publications to include accreditation information. Depending on your accreditation organization, you may receive a marketing kit to assist you in sharing the good news.
About eight months prior to accreditation expiration, your accreditation organization will send a renewal notice to your facility. The notice will include information what you must submit to renew your accreditation, so be sure to look for the letter, follow all instructions carefully, and meet the required deadlines.
If you are thinking about starting the MRI accreditation process, the MRI specialists at Resonant can help you decide which accreditation to pursue, answer your questions, and guide you through the process. For more information or to schedule a free consultation with a Resonant expert, please contact us.
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