Changes: The Latest Revisions To The ICAEL Standards
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The
Technical Director Required Training and Experience Standards,
which become effective January 1, 2007, are specified:
A. The Technical Director
must have an appropriate credential in echocardiography
from the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
(ARDMS) or Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI)
by January 1, 2007.
B. In a laboratory with no sonographers, the physician Technical
Director must have either Level II or III echocardiography
training as defined by the ACC/AHA guidelines for physician
training in echocardiography or an appropriate sonographer
credential from the ARDMS or CCI.
Technical
Director CME Requirements now read as follows:
1.2.1 Continuing Education
Requirements: The CME requirement for initial or first-time
applicants will be considered recommendations. However, appropriate
CME will be required at reaccreditation.
A) The Technical Director must document at least 30
hours of echocardiography-related continuing eudcation over
a period of three (3) years. All hours must be relevant to
echocardiography.
B) Yearly accumulated continuing education must be kept on
file and available for submission upon request.
Comment: If the Technical Director has successfully
acquired an appropriate credential within the past three (3)
years, the CME requirement will be considered fulfilled.
The
Medical Staff Required Training and Experience section was revised
to read as follows:
The medical staff must
meet one or more of the following criteria:
A) Level II training in echocardiography
B) Completion of a six-month training program in echocardiography
that includes interpretation of at least 300 echocardiogram/Doppler
examinations
C) Three years of echocardiography practice experience and
interpretation of at least 1,200 echocardiogram/Doppler examinations
preferably with Testamur status by NBE in Echocardiography
The
Medical Staff CME section was revised to read as follows:
1.3.3 Continuing Education
Requirements: The CME requirement for first-time applicants
is a recommendation. However, appropriate CME is required
at reaccreditation.
A) The medical staff must document at least 15 hours
of AMA Category I CME credits in echocardiography over a period
of three (3) years. All of the CME must be AMA Category I
and must be relevant to echocardiography.
B) Yearly accumulated continuing education must be kept on
file and available to the ICAEL when requested.
Comment: If the medical staff member has completed
formal training as specified under 1.3.1 (A or B) in the past
three years, or has successfully acquired Testamur status
by passing the Examination of Special Competence in Adult
Echocardiography by the NBE within the past three (3) years,
the CME requirement will be considered fulfilled.
The
Technical Staff CME section was revised to read as follows:
1.4.1 Continuing Education
Requirements: The CME requirement for initial or first-time
applicants will be considered recommendations. However, appropriate
CME will be required at reaccreditation.
A. The technical staff must document at least 15 hours
of echocardiography-related continuing education over a period
of three (3) years. All hours must be relevant to echocardiography.
B. Yearly accumulated continuing education must be kept on
file and available for submission upon request.
Comment: If the technical staff member has completed
formal training as specified under 1.4.1 (B) or has successfully
acquired an appropriate credential within the past three (3)
years, the CME requirement will be considered fulfilled.
The
Ancillary Personnel section was changed to Support Services
with newly added guidelines for supervision and sufficiency
to allow for quality care.
A
statement to assure compliance with HIPAA regulations is now
included: "All laboratory personnel
must ascribe to professional principles of patient-physician
confidentiality as legally required by federal, state, local
or institutional policy or regulation."
The
Quality Assurance section now states: "there
must be a written policy regarding quality assurance
for all procedures performed in the laboratory."
Slight changes for peer review and the frequency of echocardiography
conferences were added.
Previously
included as policy in the application, guidelines related to
multiple sites and mobile services are now included within the
Standards.
PART II, III, and IV
Summary Of Revisions To The Testing Standards
PART
II: ADULT TRANSTHORACIC
A
transducer dedicated to the performance of continuous wave Doppler
studies (Pedoff) must be available for each study.
Under
standard Doppler flow evaluations, the following two guidelines
were added, as items 8 and 9 in Section 3.2.2 C:
8) Optional Doppler studies
include: tissue Doppler, strain, strain-rate
9) Contrast studies are not required but should be considered
when patients are technically difficult.
PART
III: ADULT TRANSESOPHAGEAL
A
requirement to obtain pertinent clinical history was added to
the Verification of the Indication section.
Additional
guidelines were added to the training section for physicians.
Evaluation
of the ascending aorta, descending aorta and aortic arch was
added to the elements of quality study standards.
Under
the preparation of the patient section, a guideline now exists
mandating that methods be in place to assess the patient during
conscious sedation.
PART
IV: STRESS ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY
Within
the components of examination for a two-phase stress echocardiogram,
while it remains recommended that post-stress images be obtained
within 60 seconds, it is now required that they be obtained
within 90 minutes of stopping exercise.
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