Who Should Be Involved in the MRI Accreditation Process?

| Categories: MRI Accreditation | Author: Resonant Healthcare Imaging Solutions | 0

Who Should Be Involved in the MRI Accreditation Process?

Deciding to pursue (or renew) your MRI accreditation is an important step for your facility, so you want to make sure that you assemble the right team to help you get the job done. Although everyone at your facility is either directly or indirectly involved in MRI accreditation, it is important to select a core team of dedicated, qualified personnel to help your facility navigate the process.

Who Should I Include on My MRI Accreditation Team?

To give your facility the best chance of smooth sailing throughout the MRI accreditation process, you need to assemble the best personnel and third-party experts, including:

  • An accreditation coordinator / consultant
  • A radiologist
  • A physics expert and / or service engineer

What Is the MRI Accreditation Coordinator’s / Consultant’s Role?

Your facility should have one person who oversees and leads all aspects of MRI accreditation. Some facilities chose to appoint their lead MRI technologist to this role, but others may decide to appoint a manager or director. Facilities also may choose to bring in an outside consultant to be the accreditation coordinator.

Although hiring an MRI accreditation consultant is an additional expense, many facilities find that the additional expertise and advice is well worth the cost. Having an experienced MRI accreditation consultant on their team allows the facility to smoothly navigate the accreditation process while reducing the risks of surprises and increasing the chances of getting approved the first time.

The MRI accreditation coordinator’s / consultant’s main jobs include:

  • Deciding which accreditation to pursue;
  • Serving as the main point of contact for the accreditation organization;
  • Assembling your accreditation team;
  • Coordinating the efforts of other facility team members;
  • Facilitating the process by ensuring that everyone has access to needed resources;
  • Developing, monitoring, and evaluating performance improvement or quality control programs;
  • Optimizing diagnostic MRI images and scans
  • Developing, monitoring, and evaluating MRI procedures, safety protocols, and policies;
  • Assisting with case selection;
  • Ensuring that application deadlines and requirements are met; and
  • Completing and submitting accreditation forms and documents.

What Is the Radiologist’s Role?

Your radiologist, sometimes called the MRI supervising physician, will serve as the interpreting physician who is responsible for gathering and providing information on your MRI protocols, including internal peer review, emergency procedures, and code procedures. Your radiologist also will select and approve the clinical cases that you submit to the accreditation organization for review.

What Is the Physics Expert’s and / or Service Engineer’s Role?

Your physics expert (also called a medical physicist or MR scientist) or service engineer will serve as your facility’s quality control professional. This is usually a third party who completes an independent evaluation of your MRI system.

Your physics expert’s and / or service engineer’s main jobs include:

  • Ensuring that phantom scans are completed properly;
  • Assisting with the development of routine clinical protocols;
  • Providing annual performance testing;
  • Setting up and monitoring your facility’s weekly quality control program; and
  • Answering technical questions.

To ensure that your physics expert or service engineer has the right training to assist you with the accreditation process, he or she should be able to run the MRI machine with minimal assistance (if any) and have prior experience establishing or reviewing quality control programs for your MRI system.

You also should make sure your physics expert or service engineer is able to address all of the accreditation organization’s specified criteria and perform all tests required by the accreditation organization, which may include homogeneity testing, monitor luminance review, and specialty coil testing. In addition to providing test results, your physics expert or service engineer must be able to include a clear description of the testing method used and the raw data.

If you have decided to begin the MRI accreditation process and need help putting your team together or navigating the first stages of the process, the MRI specialists at Resonant can help. For more information or to schedule a free consultation with a Resonant expert, please contact us.

Contact Resonant Healthcare Imaging Solutions

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