Imaging at a Crossroads: CT scan providers urged to initiate accreditation

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According to Dr. Setzen, the accreditation process is a fairly rigorous one. “But,” he added, “It is easily accomplished if done properly and with the help of others, including the practice administrator, the imaging manufacturer and the accrediting organization. The CT technologist and medical physicist will be important to the process if the practice is using conventional CT.”

Jolene Eicher, executive advocate of the Association of Otolaryngology Administrators, said talking to other practice managers who have been through the process is helpful. Advanced ENT and Allergy in Louisville, Ky., where Eicher is the COO, is currently awaiting the results of its re-accreditation. She recalls receiving many phone calls from other practice managers three years ago, when the first wave of accreditation requirements hit due to UHC’s initial deadline. Xoran offers accreditation assistance to its customers, which can be accessed at xorantech.com/accreditation.php.

Representatives from the AOs recommend visiting their organizations’ websites to peruse standards and protocols before applying. In addition, said Mary Lally, the IAC Technical Director, ICACTL has a web page summarizing common deficiencies that lead to accreditation delays. Go to intersocietal.org/iac/news/2010/autumn/div_icactl/CT_delay_issues.htm.

More information on maintaining compliance is also available at intersocietal.org/icactl/accredits/maintaining_compliance.htm.

Other Benefits

In Alabama, the major payer is Blue Cross/Blue Shield, which has added Dr. Sillers to its list of preferred radiology providers (PRPs) now that he has been granted accreditation. As a PRP, his online pre-certification process for performing a CT scan is shorter.

“The payer has looked at the foundation of accreditation [with its medical necessity standards and safety protocols] and assumes that you are ordering and interpreting scans appropriately,” Dr. Sillers explained. “That makes the pre-certification process a little less cumbersome.”

Another benefit can accrue to the practice through the accreditation process. “This isn’t a process where you submit your material, pay your fee, obtain accreditation and are finished for three years,” Lally said. “Accreditation is a continuous quality assurance and quality improvement process.”

Eicher said Advanced ENT and Allergy’s quality assurance committee meets quarterly to review indications for CT scans as well as the quality of the films. The entire accreditation process, she said, “takes the private practice into an area where health care is headed with the new Recovery Act. Eventually, physicians will be asked to do quality measurements, so putting a quality assurance committee in place puts you a little ahead of that curve.”