Program Information
Imaging and Radiation Oncology Core (IROC) Houston QA Center (RPC) Credentialing
C AMADOR*, T Keith , T Nguyen , A Molineu , D Followill , UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Presentations
SU-E-P-2 Sunday 3:00PM - 6:00PM Room: Exhibit HallPurpose:To provide information pertaining to IROC Houston QA Center’s (RPC) credentialing process for institutions participating in NCI-sponsored clinical trials.
Methods:IROC Houston issues credentials for NCI sponsored study groups. Requirements for credentialing might include any combination of questionnaires, knowledge assessment forms, benchmarks, or phantom irradiations. Credentialing requirements for specific protocols can be found on IROC Houston’s website (irochouston.mdanderson.org). The website also houses the credentialing status inquiry (CSI) form. Once an institution has reviewed the protocol’s credentialing requirements, a CSI form should be completed and submitted to IROC Houston. This form is used both to request whether requirements have been met as well as to notify IROC Houston that the institution requests credentialing for a specific protocol. IROC Houston will contact the institution to discuss any delinquent requirements. Once the institution has met all requirements IROC Houston issues a credentialing letter to the institution and will inform study groups and other IROC offices of the credentials. Institutions can all phone the IROC Houston office to initiate credentialing or ask any credentialing related questions.
Results:Since 2010 IROC has received 1313 credentialing status inquiry forms. We received 317 in 2010, 266 in 2011, 324 in 2012, and 406 in 2013. On average we receive 35 phone calls per week with multiple types of credentialing questions. Decisions regarding credentialing status are based on the protocol specifications and previous completed credentialing by the institution. In some cases, such as for general IMRT credentialing, up to 5 sites may be credentialed based on the credentialing of one main center. Each of these situations is handled individually.
Conclusion:IROC Houston will issue radiation therapy credentials for the NCI trials in the National Clinical Trials Network. Credentialing requirements and the CSI form can be found online at the IROC Houston’s website.
Funding Support, Disclosures, and Conflict of Interest: Work supported by PHS grant CA10953 and CA081647 (NCI, DHHS).
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