Relationship of Sonographer Credentialing to Intersocietal Accreditation Commission Echocardiography Case Study Image Quality

Background: Cardiac sonographer credentialing may guarantee baseline content knowledge but does not directly evaluate clinical scanning skills. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of sonographer credentialing status to clinical competence, as defined by image quality of case studies submitted for Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) adult transthoracic echocardiography laboratory accreditation.

Methods: In this study, data were retrieved retrospectively from the IAC Echocardiography application database for all adult echocardiography laboratories applying online from August 10, 2011, to December 12, 2013. Aortic stenosis (AS) and left ventricular (LV) regional dysfunction case studies were analyzed separately. Sonographers submitting case studies were coded as credentialed or noncredentialed. An image quality score (IQS) was calculated for each case study, reflecting review scores for examination components directly related to image quality and acquisition. The group of sonographers was divided into quartiles on the basis of annual procedure volume; mean case study IQS was compared between credentialed and noncredentialed sonographers.

Results: For all four quartiles of the LV cases and the lowest three volume quartiles of the AS cases, mean IQS was significantly higher for credentialed than noncredentialed sonographers. Mean IQS in the highest volume quartile for AS studies was not significantly different by credential status.

Conclusions: In the setting of IAC Echocardiography accreditation, credentialed sonographers achieved higher mean IQSs than noncredentialed sonographers in seven of eight comparisons. However, further research will be required to expand the scope of this inference beyond AS and LV regional dysfunction cases submitted for IAC adult transthoracic echocardiography laboratory accreditation.