Today’s MRI Accreditation Does NOT Assure MRI Safety

Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, Senior Vice President, RADIOLOGY-Planning

Accreditation makes two promises, that their particular flavor is an assurance of both quality and safety. But when it comes to MRI accreditation criteria there are typically vast differences in how detailed MRI image quality criteria are, and how general MRI safety criteria are. Often accreditation minimums for MRI don’t meet CMS conditions of participation necessary for a site to maintain for Medicare/Medicaid/Tricare reimbursement. This presentation will illuminate the ways we may think accreditation protects us from MRI adverse events (but doesn’t) and identify a few “low-hanging fruit” steps that sites can take to help strengthen their MRI safety.