Telemedicine Clinic (TMC), Europe’s largest provider of teleradiology and pathology services, has been granted UKAS accreditation against the Imaging Services Accreditation Standard (ISAS).
ISAS is the only nationally recognised accreditation scheme available for diagnostic imaging services in the UK.
Ida Anderman, TMC Quality Manager for the UK and Sydney and the driving force behind TMC’s bid for accreditation, commented: “We are delighted to have met the demanding standards required and to continue to be leading the way in UK teleradiology and telepathology services. In our business, high quality reporting is always our top priority. It’s the cornerstone of everything we do.
“The assessor told us that they were impressed with our well documented system and were also very positive about Optemis, TMC’s state-of-the-art technology platform and the core of our Collaborative Diagnostic network (CDxN). They also complimented us on our consistently high levels of quality assurance, including recognition of our rigorous approach to second readings.”
Dr George McInnes, Consultant Radiologist at Poole Hospital NHS Trust and an advisor to TMC said: “ISAS is a demanding standard, and rightly so. It is a complicated process and making it through to gain accreditation in such a short time is a tribute to the hard working team at TMC. It is also a testament to the confidence that the ISAS assessment team has in our ability to deliver high quality, efficient teleradiology that our patients and customers can continue to rely on.”
Dr McInnes continued: “Increasingly, ISAS will become the industry standard and any teleradiology business that does not sign up to this process will be at a commercial disadvantage. ISAS gives our clients and their patients the reassurance they need to believe in our product. It also helps to reinforce TMC’s unrelenting focus on client and patient needs and our commitment to delivering the highest levels of service in a way that is practical, efficient and robust.”
Alexander Boehmcker. TMC’s Chief Executive said: “This is a strong endorsement of TMC’s commitment to lead the industry in providing quality teleradiology and telepathology services. It shows clearly that TMC puts patient outcomes first and assures continued confidence in the quality of our reporting and our technology.
“TMC continues to break new ground in this field, leading the way in collaborative diagnostics networks such as CDxN, our leading-edge radiology network, designed by radiologists for radiologists. Our commitment to reducing the UK’s radiology capacity gap remains undiminished and we will continue to innovate to help to manage the current capacity crisis in the NHS. This is just another example of how our high standards are applied in action and I’m very proud of the TMC team for getting us to this point so quickly and so well.”
TMC has been changing the teleradiology profession in the UK for more than 14 years and has also pioneered on-call radiology from its Sydney office, offering real time analysis of UK night time cases during daylight hours in Australia.
Paul Stennett, Chief Executive of UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) said: “ISAS was specifically developed to promote best practice amongst imaging services by comprehensively addressing four key areas: patient experience, clinical effectiveness, patient and staff safety and efficient utilisation of resources. By meeting the rigorous requirements of the ISAS standard, TMC is able to demonstrate its commitment to providing a safe, effective and high quality service to its patients. Congratulations to everyone at TMC on achieving UKAS accreditation to the ISAS standard.”
