ANZAPNM

Practice Accreditation

As part of its agreement with the Department of Health and Aged Care (DHAC) the ANZ Association of Physicians in Nuclear Medicine (the Association) has agreed to institute and run a program of practice accreditation.

The program is based on the Standards for Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Practices produced by the Quality Practice and Accreditation Committee (QPAC) that was circulated to all Members of the Association and to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) for comment.

Agreed Standards

The Standards detailed in the document have been agreed to by both the Association and the RANZCR as being the single set of standards that will apply to all nuclear medicine practices, where services are provided by Fellows of both the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and RANZCR, and by members of neither College who are Members of the Association.

It has been agreed that both the Association and the RANZCR will run accreditation programs using identical standards. It has also been agreed that an audit program will be implemented by a joint committee of both the RACP and RANZCR over the first two years of the program to ensure similar application of the standards.

The accreditation document is formulated as a number of principles (professional, technical, administrative), each of which is expanded as a series of specific standards. The Standards describe the minimum requirements for accreditation.

The Standards document is to be read in association with the Practice Accreditation Checklist.

Accreditation Process

The Association’s accreditation process will:

• be overseen by the Accreditation Implementation Committee (AIC)
• be unambiguous and auditable, and have wide support, including from the DHAC
• have an agreed implementation timetable
• be subject to review by the AIC at regular intervals
• be the subject of regular reports to the DHAC
• cover practices that provide nuclear medicine services and receive Medicare benefits and that are run or staffed by Association members who are generally Fellows of the RACP.

Definition of a Practice

For purposes of accreditation the following definition will apply:

A ‘practice’ comprises the physical facilities and staff necessary to provide all components of nuclear medicine services at a specific geographic location. At least one appropriate state radiation licence and one Health Insurance Commission provider number of a recognised specialist in nuclear medicine will be associated with the location

Further Information

For further information, please read Frequently Asked Questions or contact the Accreditation Coordinator at the ANZAPNM Secretariat.

Documents Available for Download:

> Standards for Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation

> Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation - Information, Application Form and Checklist