Provisional Grant Now Also Applies To CME & QA Deficiencies
from
the February 2007 issue
Since
adopting the Standard requiring the Technical Director of each
applicant laboratory to be credentialed in vascular testing,
the ICAVL created and implemented a decision pathway known as
the Provisional grant (for one year only). This
decision pathway was added to the existing decision options
of Grant, Delay and Deny.
At their summer 2006 meeting, the Board of Directors determined
that the Provisional grant decision pathway is also appropriate
for laboratories experiencing CME and QA deficiencies. The Provisional
grant is used in specific instances where problems are identified
but are such that they would not negatively impact the day-to-day
quality of the studies performed in the laboratory. Only
laboratories applying for their first accreditation are eligible
to receive a Provisional grant; reaccreditation applications
with these specific deficiencies will receive a Delay decision.
The
anticipated use of the Provisional grant will be for laboratories
that have demonstrated quality diagnostic studies through their
application process, but:
- have
staff members who are not in compliance with the Continuing
Education requirements:
- Medical
Director: at least 15 hours of CME credit relevant
to noninvasive vascular technology every three years,
10 of which must be Category I AMA
- Technical
Director: at least 15 hours of CME credit relevant
to noninvasive vascular technology every three years
- Medical
Staff: at least 15 hours of CME credit relevant to
noninvasive vascular technology every three years, 10
of which must be Category I AMA
- Technical
Staff: at least 15 hours of CME credit relevant to
noninvasive vascular technology every three years
- do
not have QA documentation for correlation stated in Section
6 - Quality Assurance and Quality Control of the Organization
Standards, 6.1.1: Regular ongoing quality assurance must
be performed for all areas of vascular testing performed by
the laboratory as outlined in the standards specific to that
area.
- do
not have a credentialed Technical Director
- As
stated in Section 1 - Supervision and Personnel of
the Organization Standards, 1.2.2.1: The Technical
Director must have an appropriate credential in vascular
technology.
After
thorough evaluation, the Board of Directors deemed the following
as acceptable credentials for vascular technologists:
- Registered
Vascular Technologist [RVT]
- Registered
Vascular Specialist [RVS]
- Registered
Technologist (Vascular Sonography) [RT(VS)]
(Laboratories applying for accreditation in Extracranial
and/or Intracranial Cerebrovascular testing with a physician
serving as the Technical Director will meet this requirement
if the physician has passed the American Society of Neuroimaging's
Neurosonology examination.)
HOW THE PROVISIONAL GRANT WORKS
If
a laboratory receives a Provisional grant, they will be notified
in writing of that decision, as well as the specific issues
that are not in compliance that must be corrected within one
year of the decision date. These deficiencies, as well as what
is required to document compliance, will be clearly outlined.
In addition to the letter, the laboratory will receive a certificate
that will expire one year from the date of decision (rather
than three years), the camera-ready logo on CD, and press release
packet; however, in order to extend the accreditation period
the full three years, they must provide documentation of correction
of the noted deficiencies within the one-year period.
If
such documentation is not received, the accreditation will automatically
expire at the end of the year. If the documentation is received
and compliance demonstrated, a new certificate will be issued
that will be valid for three years from the original date of
decision.
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