1) Why is CT accreditation important?
2) What is the cost?
3) How long will it take?
4) How do I get started?
5) Where can I get the standards and application materials?
6) What credentials are required?
7) Where can I get scanner operation training?
8) Where can I get radiation safety training?
9) Where can I get CME related to CT?
10) Where can I find a medical physicist?
11) Is MiniCAT™ accredited through ACR?
12) Where can I get more information?
13) What is Xoran doing to help?
14) What can a physician do who has little prior training related to CT?
1) Why is CT accreditation important?
Accreditation provides your patients, staff, and insurance payors with confirmation that CT scans are being performed safely and effectively by qualified equipment and personnel. Accreditation provides a uniform standard for all sites performing CT imaging.
For more information, visit: http://xorantech.com/contentHTML/AdditionalAccreditationInformation.php
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2) What is the cost?
The ICACTL application fee is $2500 for a single CT unit and $1000 for each additional unit. The cost to obtain application materials is $200. The standards are available for review, at no charge.
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3) How long will it take?
The applicant should expect to spend several hours reviewing the standards, collecting the documentation needed, and filling out the application forms. Review by the IAC can take several months. Getting started sooner is better than later.
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4) How do I get started?
Follow these steps:
- Review the ICACTL standards and application materials
- Identify your Medical Director and Technical Director
- Engage your Medical Physicist
- Submit application to ICACTL
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5) Where can I get the standards and application materials?
These items can be obtained on the ICACTL website.
The standards are at: www.icactl.org/icactl/apply/standards.htm
The application materials can be obtained via: http://www.icactl.org/icactl/apply/application.htm
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6) What credentials are required?
The roles that are most relevant to your application are Medical Director, Technical Director, and Medical Physicist.
Medical Director (oversees medical imaging)
- Board Certification
- 40 hours of Category 1 CME related to CT (lifetime)
- Attestation of competence to perform and interpret CT images
- Experience performing/interpreting ~200 CT scans
Technical Director (oversees operation of scanner)
- 15 hours of CME related to CT within last 3 years
- 4 hours scanner operation (Xoran provides at installation)
- 3 hours of documented radiation safety (provided by Medical Physicist)
- Can be an MD
Medical Physicist (oversees technical performance)
- Perform a shielding design, acceptance testing
- Radiation safety training
- Oversight of a quality control program
- Annual medical physics survey
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7) Where can I get scanner operation training?
Scanner operation training is provided when your MiniCAT™ is installed. All aspects of scanner operation are covered during this training. Xoran can provide additional training and documentation as needed. Call Xoran Customer Service at 1-800-709-6726.
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8) Where can I get radiation safety training?
The best way to obtain this training is through your medical physicist. Xoran is also putting together an online radiation safety course that will satisfy the standards and provide useful information specifically targeted to the MiniCAT™ system. Look for this to appear on our website later this year.
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9) Where can I get CME related to CT?
The first step is to pull together data on CME hours already accumulated by your physicians. (Note that the 40 hours needed for the Medical Director role can be from his or her entire career and will qualify as long as looking at CT images were included in the course.) If necessary, seek additional training and/or certification through your medical association. An alternative pathway is to team up with a credentialed physician to “outsource” this requirement.
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10) Where can I find a medical physicist?
While other options exist, Xoran has partnered with West Physics Consulting to offer a medical physics and application consulting service package to address the needs of MiniCAT™ customers seeking CT accreditation. Call WPC at 1-866-275-9378 or visit www.westphysics.com.
WPC has experience with MiniCAT™ and a reputation for providing outstanding service to their customers. They will guide you through the application process and provide the medical physics services needed for accreditation, such as, QC testing and radiation safety training.
In some cases, the physicist will have already performed the needed tests at the time of installation and no additional site visit will be needed. State requirements determine what testing is performed at the time of installation. The required testing should be performed prior to submitting application to IAC.
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11) Is MiniCAT™ accredited through ACR?
The current ACR CT Accreditation Program was designed for full-body scanners that scan the abdomen and soft tissue in the brain. Xoran is currently engaged with the ACR to determine MiniCAT™ and xCAT™ ENT involvement in their existing program.
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12) Where do I get more info on accreditation?
The first place to look is on the ICACTL website:
ICACTL Website
For specific questions about the standards and application process, contact Mary Lally at lally@intersocietal.org or call 1-800-838-2110.
For questions about where to obtain CME training and other required credentials, the AAO-HNS leadership is in a position to assist. Contact Phillip Kokemueller at pkokemueller@entnet.org or call 1-703-519-1574.
Issues regarding insurance/reimbursement issues should be brought to the attention of the AAO-HNS as well. They need to hear from you so that they can take action. Contact Linda Ayers at layers@entnet.org or call 1-703-684-4286.
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13) What is Xoran doing to help?
Xoran has been involved in the CT accreditation process since 2005, playing an active role to raise awareness and establish common-sense approaches to meet the need for quality oversight of CT imaging. We have been involved in providing radiation safety training seminars and helping to establish relationships between our customers and medical physics service providers.
Recently, two Xoran customers participated as “pilot” sites for ICACTL accreditation of their MiniCAT™ and xCAT™ systems. Xoran sponsored events at the AOA and AAO-HNSF Annual Meetings where our MiniCAT™ accreditation pilot site participants presented their experiences.
Xoran will continue to work to make it easy for our customers to obtain CT accreditation for performing high-quality imaging services.
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14) What can a physician do who has little prior training related to CT?
Category 1 CME related to CT can be obtained at national and local medical society meetings. More hours can be obtained at ENT meetings such as COSM (San Diego May 1-4, 2008), and AAO-HNS (Sept 21-24, 2008). CME hours can also be obtained at radiologist meetings such as RSNA (Chicago, Nov. 25-30, 2008). The course content must simply include interpretation of CT images in order to qualify.
An alternative path is to outsource the Medical Director credentials to a qualified external Radiologist or ENT physician. This individual will become part of your "Imaging Laboratory" for the purpose of the Accreditation, and will oversee your imaging and interpretation of CT images to ensure high quality services are being performed.
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The information provided is to help you understand the accreditation application process. The applying site is solely responsible for the accuracy of the information that is provided in the CT accreditation application. Xoran is not responsible for the results of your accreditation application. The accreditation requirements may be subject to change. For the most recent information applicable to your specific situation, please refer to the IAC with questions.
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