AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RADIOLOGY

Acknowledgment: The information found here is mostly copied from the www.acr.org web site. Much more information can be found on that web site, as well as downloads of pdf files with detailed documents.

STANDARDS FOR THE PRACTICE OF MRI
The American College of Radiology, with more than 30,000 members, is the principal organization of radiologists, radiation oncologists and clinical medical physicists in the United States. The American College of Radiology will periodically define new standards for radiological practice to help advance the science of radiology and to improve the quality of service to patients throughout the United States. Each standard, representing a policy statement by the College, has undergone a thorough consensus process in which it has been subjected to extensive review, requiring the approval of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation as well as the ACR Board of Chancellors, the ACR Council Steering Committee, and the ACR Council. The standards recognize that the safe and effective use of diagnostic and therapeutic radiology requires specific training, skills, and techniques as described in each document.

Overview ACR MRI Accreditation
The MRI Accreditation Program is a response to three important factors: a request from the Radiology Summit Meeting (1992) that the ACR develop new accreditation programs, the success of the Mammography Accreditation Program, and the general concern among imaging specialists about the quality of performance of MRI in current practice. The MRI Accreditation Program concept was approved by the ACR Council at the 1994 Annual Meeting and is based on existing ACR Standards.
    Designed to be educational in nature, the MRI Accreditation Program evaluates qualifications of personnel, equipment performance, effectiveness of quality control measures, and quality of clinical images. It is believed that these are primary factors which impact the quality of clinical images and the quality of patient care.
    A full term of accreditation for an MRI facility is a three-year period. The facility receiving ACR MRI Accreditation is awarded a three-year certificate recognizing its achievement. A confidential final report is sent to the supervising radiologist or physician of the MRI site at the end of the accreditation process regardless of whether or not it achieves accreditation. This peer review document discusses accomplishments, defines issues which could be improved, and provides recommendations about the performance of magnetic resonance imaging for consideration. Click here for more info from the acr web site.

Cardiovascular MRI specific Programs by the ACR
The ACR MRI Accreditation Program is developing two new modules related to Cardiovascular MRI. There will be a Cardiac Module developed under the direction of David Bluemke, MD, and an MRA module developed under the direction of Martin Prince, MD Both groups continue to work on the details of the clinical image review as well as working on issues related to the phantom testing.

**Update (RSNA, Nov 2003): It is anticipated that pilot testing can be done in early 2004 and the modules released mid-2004.

As for credentialing there is already info on the ACR standard and there soon will be specific criteria in the accreditation program.

NASCI supports the ACR efforts

ACC (new) and SOCIETY OF CARDIOVASCULAR MR (SCMR)

SEE ABOVE for ACC news.

Founded in 1994, The Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) is an international organization dedicated to the education of physicians and allied health care providers in the application of magnetic resonance to the heart and circulation; to the promotion and dissemination of the understanding and appropriate use of techniques; and to the provision of a forum pursuant of clinical, research and other issues relevant to the field.

SCMR mentions the ICAMRL accreditation program and a revised Credentialing document on their WEB site www.scmr.org.

A short article about the SCMR proposal has also appeared in the SCMR Journal.
Guidelines for Credentialing in Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR)
Pohost et al.
Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 2000, Vol 2, No 3, pp 233-234.

Unconfirmed report: The SCMR proposal carried lots of weight during the ICAMRL proposal; they are now talking of organizing an EXAMINATION (early process).

Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Magnetic Resonance Laboratories (ICAMRL)

The ICAMRL Web site www.icamrl.org provides detailed information including an order form for the accreditation materials and we would be pleased to have you link to it from the NASCI site.

The ICAMRL Program Is Now Available
The accreditation process offered by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Magnetic Resonance Laboratories (ICAMRL) became available on July 2nd. The first step for facilities interested in participating in the accreditation process is to request an information brochure from the ICAMRL (410-872-0100) or to obtain this information on the ICAMRL Web site (www.icamrl.org). The brochure explains the accreditation process and includes an order form for obtaining the Accreditation Materials: the Essentials and Standards and corresponding Accreditation Application. The cost to purchase these documents is $200, which is a one-time fee as updates to the documents are automatically sent, free-of-charge. Once a facility purchases the accreditation materials, they can submit their completed application to the ICAMRL at any time. Application deadlines are established at quarterly intervals during each year and occur on the first business day of January, April, July and October. These deadlines exist to provide a submission goal for the facilities and are used as the basis for the application processing/review schedule. However, applications are accepted and may be submitted at any time throughout the year.

Program Details
The ICAMRL accreditation program places emphasis on the evaluation of the final product produced by the MR facility: the magnetic resonance examination and its report. In particular, the case studies are crucial to the determination of compliance with the Essentials and Standards and are the basis for the judgment of the quality of work that the facility is performing. When applying for ICAMRL accreditation, facilities choose the areas in which to apply (i.e.: body, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological) based on the numbers and types of MR procedures they are performing. The case studies to be submitted by the applicant facilities vary based on upon the areas of accreditation they are seeking. In particular, the case study requirements for facilities seeking accreditation in cardiovascular are as follows:

Case one - 1 Gated Cine--a patient post myocardial-infarction in 3 projections: short axis, 2 chamber and 4 chamber long axis

Case two - 1 Gated Spin Echo-2 chamber and 4 chamber long axis views in patient with left ventricular hypertrophy

Case three - All sections of the aorta from the aortic root to the iliac bifurcation

Accredited Facilities
To date, two facilities have been granted accreditation by the ICAMRL based on the evaluation of their operations through a pilot of the application process. The accredited facilities are The Oklahoma Heart Institute MRI Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, accredited in cardiovascular and Summit Orthopedics LTD, St. Paul, Minnesota, accredited in musculoskeletal.

This Information was provided via e-mail on Sept 19, 2001 by:

Tamara A. Sloper
Director of Marketing Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (ICAVL, ICAEL, ICANL, ICAMRL)
Accreditation Coordinator--ICAMRL
8840 Stanford Boulevard, Suite 4900
Columbia, MD 21045
410-872-0100
410-872-0030 (fax)
www.icavl.org
www.icael.org
www.icanl.org
www.icamrl.org