Cardiac CT: Credentialing and Accreditation

Abstract

There are currently four different organizations recognized by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as accreditors for CT imaging, including the American College of Radiology (ACR), The Joint Commission (TJC), the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC, formerly the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL)), and RadSite (https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Provider-Enrollment-and-Certification/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/Accreditation-of-Advanced-Diagnostic-Imaging-Suppliers.html. Accessed 27 Oct 2016). In addition to general CT imaging accreditation, the ACR has a specific cardiac module, and the IAC has accreditation programs for coronary calcium scoring CT and coronary CTA exams. TJC and RadSite have no specific cardiac requirements for CT scanners, although RadSite requires submission of a sample cardiac case if cardiac CT is part of the clinical practice. The commonality of all four accreditors is that the CT equipment specifications and performance meet all state and federal requirements. Beyond this requirement, the criterion for equipment accreditation and the technologist credentials differs among the accreditors.