September 25 , 2008

HRMC Ultrasound receives ACR accreditation

Haywood Regional Medical Center has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation for its Ultrasound Department as the result of a recent survey by the American College of Radiology.

Kristy Michael, lead ultrasound technologist at Haywood Regional Medical Center; Dr. Richard Lang, a radiologist at HRMC; Richard Egan, director of radiology; and and technician Stephanie Erdeljac display the new accreditation certificate for the Ultrasound Department.

“This accreditation process is a team effort by the radiologists and staff to provide high quality ultrasound services to Haywood County,” said Kristy Michael, lead ultrasound technologist at HRMC.

While it is not currently required that ultrasound departments be accredited, eventually those departments that are not accredited will not receive Medicare or Medicaid reimbursements, Michael explained.

“The accreditation process through the ACR shall and will become the standard of health care in the United States,” she said.

This is the first time the HRMC Ultrasound Department has sought accreditation. Although it is a time-consuming process, Radiology Director Richard Egan said the staff of the department wanted to go above and beyond what is required to demonstrate their commitment to quality patient care.

“Being an accredited department means we have met the rigorous standards set forth by the American College of Radiology. It is the gold standard,” Michael said. “The public can be assured that Haywood Regional Medical Center’s program is among the best in the nation.”

An ultrasound is a diagnostic imaging technique, which uses high-frequency sound waves to create an image of the internal organs. Ultrasounds are typically associated with viewing the progress of a pregnancy. However, they are also useful for detecting and monitoring blood clots or artery blockage.

“We do a lot of abdominal images for the liver and gallstones,” Michael said.

The ACR, headquartered in Reston, Va., awards accreditation to facilities for the achievement of high practice standards after a peer-review evaluation of the practice. Evaluations are conducted by board-certified physicians and medical physicists who are experts in the field. They assess the qualifications of the personnel and the adequacy of facility equipment.

The surveyors report their findings to the ACR’s Committee on Accreditation, which subsequently provides the practice with a comprehensive report.

The ACR is a national organization serving more than 32,000 diagnostic and interventional radiologists, radiation oncologists, and nuclear medicine and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of medical imaging and radiation oncology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

HRMC’s Ultrasound Department is located within the Radiology Department on the first floor of the medical center. The department has three full-time and one part-time employees.