EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES [ continued ]
"The ICANL seeks a balance between evaluating quality patient care while not impeding the evolution of technology. By offering the new Emerging Technologies Pathway and making available the corresponding ICANL/SNM Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program, we are providing laboratories with the means and tools by which to explore these new technological developments while ensuring that they are providing quality patient care." |
-Sue Abreu, MD, FACNM, President of the ICANL Board of Directors |
 Offered jointly by the ICANL and the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), the newly launched Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program provides laboratories with the physiologic phantom required to identify and quantify areas of abnormality and determine the diagnostic significance of these findings. Laboratories applying through the Emerging Technologies Pathway are required to submit the results of the phantom program to the ICANL for evaluation and grading, based upon objectives judging defect reproducibility and image quality. Laboratory reporting of images will also be evaluated.
The first module to be made available, the Cardiac SPECT Phantom, is available to test the applicant laboratory’s ability to acquire and process SPECT rest/stress myocardial perfusion studies, identify and quantify areas of perfusion abnormality and determine the diagnostic significance of these findings. The laboratory’s submitted results will be graded by the ICANL using objective criteria.
The cardiac version of the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program is available from the ICANL for $500. Laboratories will have thirty (30) days from receipt of the phantom to submit the results. Laboratories will be required to submit the phantom results/questionnaire and all images used to make the clinical diagnosis, in addition to, their laboratory’s imaging protocol.
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As part of the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program, phantoms for general nuclear medicine and PET technology are under development.
Once a new technology is incorporated into published professional guidelines, laboratories utilizing the technology will no longer be required to undergo evaluation through the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program.
Laboratories that do not pass the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program will be given the opportunity to repeat the phantom program at an additional cost after internal investigation with improvement to their imaging procedure and program with explanation to the ICANL of the change.
In addition to fulfilling the requirements for laboratories seeking accreditation while employing emerging technologies, use of the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program provides benefits to laboratories utilizing standard, conventional technology as well. In recognition of the educational component involved in the ICANL/SNM Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program, one physician and one technologist from the laboratory may each receive 3 hours of CME or CE credit from the SNM following completion of a corresponding online test. The ICANL Standards require that one measurement must be performed annually from the three quality assessment areas: administrative, technical, and physician performance. As an additional benefit, use of the Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program may be used to fulfill the annual quality assurance requirement for both the technical and interpretive measurements.
Laboratories interested in utilizing the Cardiac SPECT Phantom component of the new Quality Assessment Patient Simulator Program should contact the ICANL at 800-838-2110 for a detailed instruction manual, or download the instruction manual directly from the ICANL website. Those interested in other phantoms offered by the SNM should contact the SNM directly at 703-708-9000 or www.snm.org.
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