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COMMON
DEFICIENCIES RELATED TO IMAGE QUALITY
Image
quality is directly related to the acquisition and processing
parameters used by a laboratory. ICANL reviewers see poor image
quality when a laboratory is not following the recommendations
written and validated for optimum performance by ASNC, SNM or
the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) in their published guidelines.
In some rare instances, applicant laboratories do not submit
any images for review, either printout or raw data, and are
delayed for lack of materials.
NOTIFICATION OF THE DELAY ACCREDITATION
DECISION
A
detailed letter is sent to the medical and technical directors
of the applicant facility identifying the specific issues that
they are required to address. These items may include clarification
of personnel or credentials, requests for revised protocols,
additional reports or case studies that meet the guideline requirements,
or the submission of missing policies, protocols or documentation.
Each item is identified with the corresponding ICANL Standard,
along with a reference to help the laboratory resolve the issue.
The laboratory is provided instructions for submitting the required
materials, which subsequently undergo review by the ICANL before
a final decision to grant accreditation can be made.
There
is no additional fee for the submission/review of delay material,
and there is no time limit for submission of delay material
unless the applicant laboratory is applying for reaccreditation.
However, it is the responsibility of the nuclear medicine facility
to respond to the delay letter in a timely manner, as the accreditation
expiration date is determined by the original date of decision.
Therefore, it is in the best interest of the laboratory to rectify
the delay issues as quickly as possible in order to benefit
from the full three-year accreditation period.
Laboratories
that receive a delay accreditation decision when applying for
reaccreditation are provided a 60-day grace period in which
to submit their required materials. This window is designed
to afford these laboratories time to resolve the issues and
provide necessary documentation before losing their accreditation
status and the right to use the ICANL accredited laboratory
logo and other accreditation benefits. This is becoming increasingly
important with the growing number of payment policies being
linked to the accreditation status of the facility.
It
is paramount to point out that receiving a delay accreditation
decision from the ICANL does not mean that the identified issues
cannot be resolved or that the laboratory will not become accredited.
Rather, the delay decision indicates that areas of deficiency
must be addressed before the accreditation process can move
forward. The resulting improvement to the facility is one of
the greatest benefits of participation in the accreditation
process.
The
ICANL staff - Stefanie Margulies, NCT, CNMT, RT(N), Technical
Manager, Randy Maier, Senior Application Specialist, and Lois
Smith, Application Processor - are available to answer questions
about the delay or provisional material submission and may be
contacted by phone or email for further assistance if clarification
is needed.
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