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Practice Accreditation
- Relationship between RANZCR and NATA
Background
and RANZCR/NATA Memorandum of Understanding The fourth aim of this collaboration is to "provide formal recognition by the RANZCR and NATA of those medical imaging practices which meet the RANZCR/NATA accreditation criteria (the Accreditation Program)". The MoU states that the Accreditation Program will be administered jointly by the RANZCR and NATA with matters of policy determined by consultation and agreement. In the first instance, the Accreditation Program will be under the direction of the Medical Imaging Accreditation Steering Committee. Once the Stage 3 accreditation process is established, the program will be overseen by the Medical Imaging Accreditation Advisory Committee (MIAAC). This Committee will be chaired by a Fellow of the College and consist of a majority membership of College Fellows. Each of the members will be appointed for a defined period which is reviewed on an on-going basis. The College's role will be to provide professional and technical support for the program through MIAAC. In particular, the College will provide guidance on the applicability and interpretation of accreditation requirements, while NATA will bring its many years of experience administering accreditation programs [ Top ] The Pathology
Model [ Top ] The NATA
Membership Model This membership company model is reflected in NATA's fee structures, which are the same for all its accreditation programs and accredited organisations, and are determined by the NATA Board and published annually. There are application and accreditation fees and annual membership fees. No additional charges are raised for subsequent re-assessment. The NATA governance structure provides for members to elect and be eligible for election to the Council and for the relevant professional body to have a representative on the Council. Councillors are eligible to be elected to the smaller Board of Directors. Under its Memorandum and Articles of Association, NATA indemnifies every Committee member and person involved in the accreditation process against any liability incurred while carrying out their duties. As ordinary members of NATA, accredited practices also have obligations to NATA relating to maintenance of standards, reporting, use of NATA logo, endorsements, etc. [ Top ] Applicability
of NATA Membership Model to RANZCR Accreditation Practices will have membership rights in NATA, the College will be represented on NATA Council (and on the Board, if elected) and NATA provides indemnity for participants and manages appeals processes. The fee structure involves an application fee and an assessment fee comprising an hourly rate for time spent by NATA staff officers, plus travel and accommodation costs for the assessors and NATA staff. Annual fees, which include membership of NATA, cover an administrative fee and a fee based on the number of "technical units" required for assessment. All applications will be received by the College. An additional handling charge will be required by the College at the application stage. A separate fee will also be associated with participation in the Image reviews for mammography and MRI, as these will be administered solely through the College. It is not expected that the College would need to make any further annual or other charges for reassessment. With regard to the granting of accreditation, once a practice site has addressed all the conditions detailed in the assessment report, the Chair of MIAAC would approve a Report to the College Council and to the NATA Board to recommend the granting of accreditation. For the award of the certificate, both RANZCR and NATA would approve accreditation. NATA is developing a specific page for medical imaging on its web site and this will be linked to the College's website (and vice versa). Amongst other things, the web site will display the Field Accreditation Document and other relevant information as well as a listing of all accredited sites together with their scope of accreditation. It must be appreciated that NATA has a responsibility to satisfy its own standards for accreditation and if the College wished to grant accreditation in its own right, a different relationship between the College and NATA would have to be developed outside of the membership and joint program model. In such circumstances, NATA would have to develop a new model of operation whereby it acted as an agent of the College and a different schedule of fees specifically for the purpose would have to be negotiated. Different arrangements for indemnity and appeals would also need to apply. In addition, there are political implications involved in meeting the requirements of the Radiology Quality and Outlays Memorandum of Understanding in relation to the linkage of the Accreditation Program to Medicare rebates and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing is familiar with NATA's role in relation to the joint pathology program. [ Top ] The Medical Imaging Accreditation Advisory
Committee (MIAAC) 2004
[ Top ] Assessment
Process Accordingly, a RANZCR/NATA Accreditation Requirements package should be purchased in the first instance in order to familiarise oneself with the accreditation requirements. An advisory visit should also be requested prior to applying in order that the practice's/site's readiness can be gauged. The visit will allow the accreditation process to be further clarified, together with an indication of thoses issues requiring further consideration or implementation following a review of matters relating to practice staff, equipment, accommodation, quality control, reports, manuals, etc. Such a visit does not involve technical review which rests with the technical assessors during the on-site intial assessment. The visit may also remove the need for further follow-up, either prior or after the initial assessment, thus saving time, frustration and costs. Note that an advisory visit can be requested anytime during the accreditation process. The assessment process consists of two components: document review and on-site peer assessments and involves the following steps:
[ Top ] Assessors Assessors will need to satisfy defined criteria, as determined by MIAAC, and will be invited through a number of ways:
They will be provided with NATA training on how to perform the assessments and a brief overview of ISO/IEC 17025. All travel and accommodation costs for assessors, when performing site visits, will be covered. For each site visit, assessors will be provided with pre-assessment briefing notes and a checklist for recording findings at assessment. [ Top ] Timing These transitional arrangements are currently being discussed with the Department of Health and Ageing and Stage 2 registered sites may be afforded an extension of the above date. [ Top ] Fee Structure
Once accreditation is granted, no additional charges are raised for subsequent reassessments. The annual fees raised cover all reassessment costs. Application forms and fee schedules are available to download. [ Top ] [ Practice Accreditation - Overview - Home ]
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