A Glimpse Of The Big Picture:
ICAVL 2003 Statistics
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from
the January 2004 issue |
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It's
always refreshing to take a step back from the focused, detailed
work necessary to provide quality vascular testing so that we
can get a sense of the big picture. As the new year starts,
the ICAVL has taken a look over the 2003 data, compared it with
data from past years, and found out some very interesting information.
2003
was a banner year for the ICAVL. It elected its first non-physician
president-elect, Rita Shugart, RN, RVT, and it conducted
its first-ever strategic planning session. This sets the field
for ICAVL's 2004 goals, which include significant revisions
to the accreditation and reaccreditation applications as well
as the Essentials and Standards, and to continue to work
with the Coalition for Quality in Ultrasound (CQU) to foster
payment policies that support payment only for quality testing.
Staying The Course
The
ICAVL had a steady, strong year in 2003. In its thirteenth year,
the overall application numbers stayed consistent, the ICAVL
built up its roster of reaccredited labs, and watched the numbers
of applicants applying electronically reach 100%.
Receiving
a total of 404 applications in 2003, the ICAVL saw the largest
number of applications for a single deadline in the organization's
history in December. Every year since 1999, the ICAVL has averaged
around 400 applications per year.
In With The Old -
And In With The New
Of
the 404 applications the ICAVL received in calendar year 2003,
less than a quarter (20.2%) were first-time applications. Not
surprisingly, with time the number of first-time applications
is decreasing, while the number of reaccreditations is increasing.
In 2003, 79.8% of applications were reaccreditation applications,
while in 2000 (three short years ago), only 60% of all the applications
received sought reaccreditation.
As
the ICAVL matures into its second decade, it is encouraging
to see its continued growth. Even more encouraging, however,
is that ICAVL-accredited labs are consistently reapplying, demonstrating
confidence in the ICAVL Essentials and Standards to measure
lab quality.
Staff Specialties
One
of the more interesting statistics that the ICAVL has tracked
over time is the specialty of the Medical Director and the medical
staff. The makeup of the ICAVL Board Of Directors is unique
in that all specialties involved in noninvasive vascular testing
are represented, a feature which is reflected in the multi-specialties
represented in the labs applying for reaccreditation.
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