Accreditation maintenance through remote site monitoring

• US 7,072,931 B2
• Filed: 05/16/2001
• Issued: 07/04/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David Goldhaber, Leon Kaufman, Mikhail Mineyev
• Original Assignee: David Goldhaber, Leon Kaufman, Mikhail Mineyev
• Inventors: Kaufman, Leon, Goldhaber, David, Mineyev, Mikhail
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lezak, Arrienne M
• Application Number:
  US09/860,030
• Publication Number:
  US 20020188652A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,875 Days
• Field of Search: 709201-253, 702/39, 702 33-199, 378/207, 378 1- 91, 73/10.1, 73/18.2, 738/659, 736/18, 736/19, 736/40, 735/70, 736/20, 738/664, 738/656, 128/915, 128/916, 128/922, 128/923, 705/2, 705 7- 10, 705/28, 705/29
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 30/20 for handling medical images, e.g. DICOM, HL7 or PACS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Methods and systems for remotely monitoring an imaging facility'"'"'s compliance with accreditation requirements. In a particular embodiment, the present invention remotely monitors the status of an MRI facility. In some configurations, the MRI unit is coupled to a server station. Information from the MRI unit is transmitted and stored on the server station. The information can be transmitted over a network, such as the internet, to a remote server. The remote server can collect and evaluate the accreditation data.

Claims

1. A method of collecting accreditation information from an imaging facility, the method comprising:

receiving accreditation information for an imaging facility at a remote server from a computer server station over a communication network, the accreditation information comprising information used to determine compliance of the imaging facility with one or more accreditation standards, the accreditation information comprising one or more images obtained using one or more imaging units at the imaging facility, information related to one or more patient procedures used at the imaging facility, information related to one or more maintenance practices at the imaging facility, and information related to education and certification of personnel at the imaging facility;

collating the accreditation information received on the remote server; and

determining, at the remote server, based upon the accreditation information, if the imaging facility is in compliance with the one or more accreditation standards; and

communicating a result of the determining to the imaging facility, the result identifying a variance from the accreditation requirement if the imaging facility is determined not to be in compliance with the one or more accreditation standards.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising uploading information prepared based upon the accreditation information to an accreditation agency.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein communicating the information to the imaging analysis comprises transmitting an analysis of the accreditation information to the imaging facility.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein receiving the accreditation information at the remote server from the computer server station comprises receiving the accreditation information periodically at the remote server.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the computer server station is located at the imaging facility, the method further comprising sending the one or more images from the one or more imaging units to the computer server station.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein an application executing on the computer server station transmits the accreditation information to the remote server.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more imaging units comprise a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more imaging units comprise an x-ray device, a nuclear medicine device, or a CT device.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the accreditation information comprises at least one of image reports, central resonant frequency information, kilovoltage information, scattered radiation information, signal-to-noise ratio information, and artifact assessment information.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the imaging facility comprises the computer server station.

11. The method of claim 10 further comprising querying the computer server station to transmit the accreditation information to the remote server.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the computer server station is programmed to automatically transmit the accreditation information to the remote server at a preset interval.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the information related to one or more maintenance practices at the imaging facility comprises one or more maintenance logs for the imaging facility.

14. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending data to the imaging facility alerting personnel of the imaging facility of at least one of a preventive maintenance update and personnel training requirement.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the network is the internet.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the receiving comprises automatically receiving the accreditation information at the remote server at a predetermined interval.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the predetermined interval is daily.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the predetermined interval is monthly.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the predetermined interval is six months.

20. The method of claim 1 further comprising accessing a web page over the network to deliver additional data to the remote server.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising monitoring the imaging facility to check for information included in the accreditation information.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving the accreditation information comprises receiving the accreditation information in encrypted form.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising preparing an accreditation submission for submission to an accreditation agency.

24. The method of claim 1 further comprising preparing for an accreditation audit for the imaging facility.

25. The method of claim 24 wherein the accreditation audit is prepared based upon the accreditation information.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the imaging facility is an Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) imaging facility;

the one or more accreditation standards are American College of Radiology standards; and

the one or more imaging units comprise an MRI unit.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the communicating comprises communicating the result to the computer server station.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the communicating is performed at a regular interval.

29. The method of claim 28 wherein the regular interval is daily, weekly, monthly, bi-annually, or annually.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the accreditation information comprises image quality information.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the imaging facility is an CT imaging facility; and

the one or more imaging units comprise a CT unit.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more imaging units comprises a nuclear imaging unit.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more imaging units comprises an X-ray unit.

34. A method for monitoring an imaging facility from a remote location, the method comprising:

acquiring accreditation information for the imaging facility, the accreditation information comprising information used to determine compliance of the imaging facility with accreditation requirements, the accreditation information comprising an image obtained using a first imaging unit at the imaging facility, information related to one or more patient screening procedures used at the imaging facility, information related to maintenance practices at the imaging facility, and information related to education and certification of personnel at the imaging facility;

transmitting the accreditation information to a local server station;

sending the accreditation information from the local server station over a network to a remote server;

saving the accreditation information on the remote server;

determining, based upon the accreditation information, if the imaging facility is in compliance with the accreditation requirements; and

communicating a result of the determining to the imaging facility, the result identifying a variance from the accreditation requirement if the imaging facility is not determined to be in compliance with the accreditation requirements.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein the network is the internet.

36. The method of claim 34 wherein acquiring comprises monitoring at least one of image quality and phantom imaging.

37. The method of claim 34 wherein the accreditation information comprises an image obtained using a second imaging unit at the imaging facility.

38. The method of claim 34 further comprising delivering one or more reminders from the remote server to the imaging facility over the network.

39. The method of claim 34 further comprising compiling an accreditation report at the remote server based upon the accreditation information and transmitting the accreditation report to the local server station over the network.

40. The method of claim 34 wherein the acquiring and the transmitting occurs on a fixed schedule.

41. The method of claim 34 wherein acquiring the accreditation information comprises receiving information regarding a preventive maintenance visit to the imaging facility, or continuing education credits for personnel, or a policy of the imaging facility.

42. A method of monitoring accreditation status of an imaging facility, the method comprising:

transmitting accreditation information for the imaging facility to a first server, the accreditation information comprising information used to determine compliance of the imaging facility with one or more accreditation standards, the accreditation information comprising one or more images obtained using one or more imaging units at the imaging facility, information related to one or more patient procedures used at the imaging facility, information related to one or more maintenance practices at the imaging facility, and information related to education and certification of personnel at the imaging facility;

sending the accreditation information from the first server over a network to a second server;

saving the accreditation information on the second server; and

determining at the second server, based upon the accreditation information, if the imaging facility is in compliance with the one or more accreditation standards; and

communicating a result of the determining to the imaging facility, the result identifying a variance from the accreditation requirement if the imaging facility is not determined to be in compliance with the accreditation requirements; and

uploading the accreditation information to an accreditation agency over a communication network.

43. The method of claim 42 further comprising encrypting the accreditation information at the first server.

44. The method of claim 42 comprising preparing an accreditation submission package prior to uploading.