February 2006 | Vol. 24, No. 2

Industry News

ARDMS Announces New CME Audit Program

Effective Jan. 1, 2006, ARDMS converted to an audit system to verify compliance with continuing medical education (CME) requirements. This means that as of January 1, 2006, all ARDMS Registrants became solely responsible for accruing and maintaining their CME records. ARDMS will conduct an annual audit of a percentage of randomly selected Registrants whose three-year CME cycle ended in the previous year.

This means that registrants are no longer required to send your CMEs in to ARDMS each year. However, you must keep and maintain your CME documentation for a minimum of four years in the event that you are audited.

The first ARDMS CME audit will be for the Jan. 1, 2004-Dec.31, 2006 CME Cycle.

CME Audit Process
ARDMS Registrants will receive their annual renewal invoice in the fall of 2006. By paying your annual renewal fee, you will declare that you have earned the necessary minimum CME requirements thereby stating that you are, and will stay, in compliance with all ARDMS rules and policies. You should no longer send in your CMEs, but must keep and maintain your CMEs for a minimum of four years in the event that you are audited.

In the first quarter of every year, starting in 2007, ARDMS will conduct its audit and will send a letter to notify all Registrants who were selected that they must submit their requisite minimum of 30 CMEs for their three-year CME cycle to ARDMS by the date specified. Your official CME audit notification letter will provide directions on how to submit your CME documentation. You will be notified of your CME audit results by an official letter (via return/receipt service).

Starting April 15 of each year, registrants can check their record online in the “Registrant Secured Services” section of the ARDMS Web site. It will note whether or not you have been audited for the 2006, 2005 and 2004 three-year CME cycle. We strongly recommend that you check to verify your audit status. It is your responsibility to be aware of your audit status.

ARDMS Audit Info
In the first quarter of each calendar year, starting in 2007, up to 30 percent of ARDMS Registrants whose three-year CME cycle ends on December 31 of the previous year will be randomly selected for the CME audit. These individuals will then need to provide documentation that they have met the ARDMS CME requirements. Do not send your CME information to ARDMS until you are audited.

As a result of the ARDMS changes, SVU will no longer send your Online JVU-CME test results to ARDMS. For all future JVU-CME tests, you must print your certificate and retain it in case you are audited by ARDMS. It is now the individual Registrant’s responsibility to provide ARDMS with appropriate CME documentation in the event he or she is audited. You must keep your SVU-CME certificates for JVU exams on file in case you are audited by ARDMS. For more information on the ARDMS audit system go to: www.ardms.org/registrants/cmeaudit/htm.

ARDMS Seeks Public Comment on Prerequisites for new Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) Examinations

In February 2005, the ARDMS Board of Directors approved the development of the Sonography Principles and Instrumentation (SPI) examination as a single physics-focused examination, which is scheduled to go live no sooner than 2008. The SPI examination would serve as the Principles and Instrumentation examination pathway to be applied towards any of the ARDMS Clinical Sonography credentials: RDMS, RDCS, and RVT. Historically, ARDMS has offered three separate physics-based examinations, which are each linked to one specified clinical credential: Ultrasound Principles and Instrumentation (UPI) for the RDMS credential, Cardiovascular Principles and Instrumentation (CPI) for the RDCS credential, and Vascular Principles and Instrumentation (VPI) for the RVT credential.

The ARDMS Board of Directors, through its Certification Committee, is seeking comments from the public and Sonography committee in response to three (3) questions as detailed in the ARDMS Formal Request for Public Comment document, which is available on the ARDMS website at www.ardms.org/aboutardms/news.htm#comments. The responses to these questions will allow the ARDMS Certification Committee to make further SPI examination prerequisite recommendations to the ARDMS Board of Directors. The public comment period began on Jan. 17, 2006. Comments concerning this issue must be received in the ARDMS office by March 15, 2006. SVU is reviewing the public comment document and plans to submit comments to ARDMS by the March 15, 2006 deadline.

ARDMS Offers New Interpretation Credential for Physicians

by Nicole Leandro, Writer/Editor, ARDMS

The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS) is pleased to announce that the Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation (RPVI) credential is now available. This ground-breaking new ARDMS credential is offered exclusively to physicians who practice or rely upon vascular ultrasound/technology.

The Physicians’ Vascular Interpretation (PVI) examination was developed to offer a specific credential in vascular laboratory interpretation that is more appropriate for physicians than the Registered Vascular Technologist (RVT) credential, which physicians have earned in the past.

Many physicians who work in vascular laboratories have obtained the RVT credential, in order to demonstrate their general expertise in this field. However, the RVT examination does not evaluate what physicians actually do in the vascular laboratory. Therefore, the focus of the PVI examination will be on interpretation of vascular laboratory test results, rather than on performing the examinations.

The PVI examination – and the RPVI credential – will provide a vehicle for documenting expertise in the interpretation of vascular ultrasound studies of any physician who meets the examination prerequisites.

What is the difference between the ARDMS PVI examination and the RVT examination?

The RVT credential requires candidates to pass two separate examinations: the Vascular Principles/Instrumentation (VPI) examination and the Vascular Technology (VT) examination. The content of the examinations for the RVT credential pertains to the tasks that vascular technologists/sonographers perform in the course of their vascular laboratory work.

In contrast, the PVI examination will test the interpretation of vascular laboratory tests, which is what most physicians who work in the vascular laboratory actually do. The RPVI credential will be obtained by passing a single multiple-choice question examination, which includes questions on physics and instrumentation as they pertain to interpretation of vascular laboratory tests.

The various content areas and the relative proportion of questions in each content area are reflected in the content outline for the PVI examination, which is available under on the “Examination Information” section of the ARDMS Web site, www.ardms.org.

About the Examination

The PVI examination is approximately four hours long with approximately 200 multiple-choice questions. The examination is delivered via computer in proctored testing centers throughout the year. The cost of the PVI examination is $500 USD (or $635 CND).

For further information, just go to www.ardms.org and click on the “Physicians’ Exam” on the left-hand navigation bar. You’ll find additional information about the PVI examination and RPVI credential, along with sample examination questions, a content outline for the examination, the PVI prerequisite chart and application booklet, and much more.

University of Washington School of Medicine Announces Status of the D. Eugene Strandness, Jr. Imaging Fellowship

The University of Washington, School of Medicine, recently announced that the campaign to raise funds to endow the D. Eugene Strandness, Jr. Imaging Fellowship is making progress and will conclude during 2006, when the Strandness Vascular Laboratory opens in the Surgical Pavilion at the University of Washington Medical Center. Dr. Strandness is considered by many as the father of vascular ultrasound.

The University announced it has raised over $110,000 during the last few months from Gene’s friends and associates. These generous gifts will be matched by funds from the Division of Vascular surgery and the School of Medicine.

The architectural plans for the Strandness combined vascular research and service laboratory are nearly complete (and the naming has been approved). The laboratory will occupy approximately 7,200 square feet of space on the first floor of the Surgical Pavilion. The new combined lab will be constructed in 2006 and is expected to open by December 2006. The University plans to announce the imaging fellowship at the time of the lab opening.