Performance-Based Assessment of Radiology Practitioners: Promoting Improvement in Accordance with the 2007 Joint Commission Standards

New guidelines for medical credentialing and privileging were published by the Joint Commission in 2007. These guidelines require practitioner-specific data collection in the areas of patient care, medical and clinical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and system-based practice. The authors describe their current process for privileging on the basis of practitioner performance with the aim that the description may serve as a template for other departments of radiology working on similar processes. The parameters chosen in each category were picked on the basis that they would contribute to quality improvement while creating minimal additional data collection beyond what was already occurring in the department.