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The
ABCs Of Case Study Submission,
As They Relate To The Digital Laboratory
- Cases
may be submitted on regular VHS tape, or CD. Please do not
submit cases on DVD or MOD, as the ICAEL reviewers do not
always have access to the equipment necessary to review these
media.
- When
submitting cases on CD, it is always necessary to attach the
appropriate viewer. As a safeguard before submitting your
application, attempt to view the cases contained on the CD
on a computer other than your digital workstation.
- Include
as many cases as space permits, per each CD. Label each with
the testing section, the pathology, the interpreting physician
and the sonographer. For laboratories applying for accreditation
of multiple sites, each case must be identified per site.
As with all application materials, duplicate submission is
required as each application is simultaneously reviewed by
two independent application reviewers.
- The
Standards do not require acquisition of a defined number
of cardiac cycles per image, however, as stated (Part I
Organization, Section 3 - Examination Data Archiving, Examination
Reports, and Laboratory Records), digital studies must
include information consistent with that required for videotape
acquisition. The number of cardiac cycles acquired must be
sufficient to allow for adequate review, although fewer cardiac
cycles are generally recorded.
- If
physicians repeat/verify the measurements obtained during
the study offline, it is important to remember that the ICAEL
reviewers must have the ability to view the location and performance
of all measurements made.
System
Capabilities To Consider
- Will
you have the ability to burn a study to CD that can be viewed
on any computer?
- Is
your digital system compatible with all of the different ultrasound
systems?
- When
you copy your stress echo cases to CD, can the pre- and post-exercise
images be displayed side-by-side? Are the timers visible?
- Will
the measurements transfer from the ultrasound system and populate
the report in the digital workstation?
In
Conclusion
Utilizing
digital technology is beneficial to enhancing the services provided
in the laboratory, allowing for greater ease in demonstrating
compliance with accreditation standards, thus contributing to
an overall improvement in the level of patient care provided.
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