Filenews 9 August 2024 - by Marilena Panayi
In the presence of a doctor, all radiological examinations must be performed, while in the case of MRI and CT scans, the doctor must be a radiologist. Each MRI scanner should serve no more than three patients per hour and each CT scanner more than five. The age of the equipment and its maintenance meet the requirements of the Health Insurance Organisation for the radiodiagnostic centres of the GHS.
The final draft criteria to be applied by the HIO for all radiodiagnostic centres is ready and aims to ensure the quality of the radiological examinations carried out within the GHS as well as the quality and technology of the equipment available and used by the System's centres.
The criteria prepared by the HIO have been reformulated after the meeting that the Organization had with representatives of the radiodiagnostic centers and their implementation date, as it was determined long ago, is January 1, 2025. The new text, however, also includes a one-year transition period for one of the criteria included in the relevant planning.
The prerequisites for a radiodiagnostic center to join the GHS, according to the new design, are:
>> The presence of a doctor (regardless of specialty) throughout the performance of imaging procedures by radiodiagnostic centers. In cases where the examination performed is MRI or CT scan, the doctor must be a radiologist.
>> Each MRI scanner will serve no more than 3 patients per hour.
>> Each CT scanner will serve no more than 5 patients per hour.
>> Maintenance of CT and MRI systems and quality control that follows it, but also archiving of all images. That is, radiodiagnostic centers that perform imaging examinations must ensure the digital archiving of all images in a safe and effective manner and at the same time, it will be required, of course, that CT and MRI scanners have been maintained at a frequency specified by the manufacturer, while in case of non-determination, maintenance must be carried out at least annually.
For the first condition, concerning the presence of a doctor, the HIO, in consultation with the radiodiagnostic centres, set a transitional period of one year. The transitional phase will apply from the first day of application of the new criteria and will expire after one year. During the radiodiagnostic centers, they will be able to have a doctor, regardless of specialty, in all examinations, including MRI and CT scans and a radiologist only in cases where the administration of intravenous contrast medium is required.
For the second and third conditions concerning the number of patients to be served per hour per MRI or CT scanner, the HIO has prepared a plan to control the records of radiodiagnostic centers in order to ensure the implementation of this measure, which, of course, aims to ensure the quality of the examinations performed.
This control, we are told, will be carried out by random data and the centres will be obliged to demonstrate in a documented manner that they apply the limits set.
Regarding the qualitative criteria that will be taken into account for the purpose of calculating the amount of compensation of radiodiagnostic centers, according to the planning of the HIO, among others, they will concern:
⦁ The age of the systems used in CT and MRI imaging examinations.
⦁ CT and MRI technology.
⦁ The certification of radiodiagnostic centers with the CYS ISO 7101:2023 standard.
⦁ The degree of satisfaction of the imaging protocols that will be implemented by the Organization in cooperation with stakeholders.
The age of the equipment as determined by the year of manufacture of the machine or by a relevant system upgrade. The provider must present the necessary certificates and attestations Systems that fall, based on their year of manufacture, in the age category of 10 years and over may be upgraded universally by the manufacturer and transferred to the category of 0-10 years.
