PHILIPSBURG – Philipsburg Outpatient Services, a service of Clearfield Hospital located in the Peebles Plaza, Philipsburg, recently received accreditation for its echocardiography service by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission.
Accreditation by the IAC means that the echocardiography service provided by Philipsburg Outpatient Services has undergone a thorough review of operational and technical components by a panel of experts. The IAC grants accreditation only to those facilities that are found to be providing quality patient care in compliance with national standards through a comprehensive application process including detailed case study review.
“I’m very proud of our Philipsburg Outpatient Services team. The sonographers and radiologic technologists are highly skilled in their field. Adding this accreditation to our service is quite an accomplishment,” stated Audra Sidelinger, imaging director for Clearfield Hospital.
She continued, “Participation in the accreditation process is voluntary. Accreditation status signifies that we have been reviewed by an independent agency and that agency recognizes our commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease.”
An echocardiogram is a type of ultrasound test that uses high-frequency sound waves that are sent through a device called a transducer. The device picks up echoes of the sound waves as they bounce off the different parts of the heart. These echoes are turned into moving pictures of the heart that can be seen on a video screen.
Cardiac structure and flow information provided by echocardiographic testing is useful in the detection and management of many types of heart disease. This noninvasive test has become one of the standard diagnostic tools in cardiology with an estimated 10 million echocardiograms performed annually in the United States.
IAC accreditation is widely respected within the medical community, as illustrated by the support of national medical societies related to echocardiography, which include physicians and sonographers.
For more information about echocardiography at Philipsburg Outpatient Services, please contact 814-342-1108.