ANZAPNM

Practice Accreditation

ANZAPNM Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Program

The ANZAPNM Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Program is a voluntary program of accreditation for nuclear medicine services and for diagnostic ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry services if offered in conjunction with nuclear medicine services.

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 Medicare Australia provider number of a recognised specialist in nuclear medicine will be linked to the location.

The Program is managed by the ANZAPNM's Accreditation Implementation Committee (AIC)

Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation

As part of its Memorandum of Understanding (1999-2003) with the Department of Health and Ageing (DHA) the ANZAPNM agreed to develop and run a program of accreditation for nuclear medicine practices throughout Australia. This Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Program (the Program) is based on the document Standards for Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Practices produced by the Association's Quality Practice and Accreditation Committee (QPAC) and developed in consultation with the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) over several years.

This set of Standards was adopted in 2000 by both organisations as the Standards that will apply to nuclear medicine practice accreditation across Australia, thus ensuring uniformity of accreditation for all nuclear medicine practices. The second edition of the Standards was issued in January 2005, following minor edits and expansion to include standards for Diagnostic Ultrasound and Bone Mineral Densitometry accreditation. This second edition of the Standards is available for download (nuclear medicine only; see below).

It was also agreed that while the ANZAPNM and the RANZCR would run separate practice accreditation programs, they would have reciprocal recognition for their respective Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Programs. Thus, any nuclear medicine practice that has achieved accreditation through either the ANZAPNM or the RANZCR will be considered to have fulfilled the professional, technical and administrative accreditation requirements of the other organisation.

 Accreditation is a two-stage process.  Initially, a practice may be granted interim accreditation following desktop review of the application; following this, a site visit will be undertaken and, depending on the outcome of this, the practice will be granted full accreditation.  At present, the accreditation cycle lasts four years.

Accredited Practices

Please see the following links for lists of accredited practices:

Nuclear Medicine Practices that are fully accredited

Nuclear Medicine Practices that have Interim Accreditation

Further Information

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

Documents for Download:

Documents for download: Note: Hard copies of these documents are also available from the ANZAPNM Secretariat.

> Standards for Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Practices - Second Edition, January 2005 (1.1Mb)

Appendices:

> Quality Control of Nuclear Medicine Equipment - ANZSNM Standards (1.4Mb)

> Clinical Exercise Stress Testing - CSANZ Standards (139Kb)

> Pharmacological Stress Testing - CSANZ Standards (216Kb

Application Form and Checklist:

> Application Form & Checklist for Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation (1.5Mb)

> Technical Instructions for Completing Application Form Electronically (92Kb)

Diagnostic Ultrasound & Bone Mineral Densitometry Services Accreditation
For the convenience of those nuclear medicine practices that offer services in diagnostic ultrasound and would like to apply for accreditation of these services, the ANZAPNM Council has agreed to include these modalities as part of the Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Program.

Please note that accreditation of these modalities is offered only where they are provided in conjunction with nuclear medicine services. The ANZAPNM does not accredit stand-alone ultrasound or BMD practices

Please contact the ANZAPNM Secretariat if you wish to apply for your nuclear medicine practice to be accredited for diagnostic ultrasound and/or BMD practice.

If you have any queries or would like further information about the ANZAPNM's Nuclear Medicine Practice Accreditation Program, please contact the Secretariat.