FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
Find out more about Padi.
What does Padi mean?
O Padi is the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Program, which nationally qualifies public or private diagnostic imaging and teleradiology services that voluntarily join the program, through careful and impartial evaluations of compliance with minimum quality, safety and sustainability requirements.
What are Padi's aims?
Mission
Encouraging and recognizing compliance with safety, quality and sustainability requirements by Diagnostic Imaging services.
Vision
To be the national reference program in accreditation, recognized as a differential by Diagnostic Imaging services, the scientific community, health system regulators, health operators and the population.
Values
Ethics; Confidentiality; Quality; Patient safety; Continuing education; Respect for diversity and regional cultures; and Sustainability.
Why did the CBR decide to create Padi?
To benefit patients throughout the country, by encouraging the growing quality of medical practice in the area, and to offer services a benchmark in accreditation built on the credibility and knowledge of the Brazilian College of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging (CBR).
When was Padi launched?
In August 2015, after just over a year of development. Its creation had been approved at the CBR's Ordinary General Meeting held in October 2013.
Who benefits from Padi? In what way?
Patients - Padi assesses patient safety and the quality of care provided in various areas/stages of the processes involved in providing the service. It also signals to society as a whole which clinics/hospitals are accredited.
Clinics/hospitals - They receive an external, technical and detailed assessment, resulting in excellent opportunities for improvement. In addition, their work and results are accredited by a credible program specific to the field of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, making it possible to publicize their accreditation to society and the market.
Doctors involved in diagnostic and therapeutic imaging - They feel that the specialty has been valued, working conditions improved and good practices encouraged, based on the assessment requirements demanded by the Padi Standard.
Requesting doctors - They receive a higher quality test, thanks to the improvements implemented as part of Padi's accreditation process, which influence the entire chain, enabling diagnosis and treatment to be determined more safely and reliably. Thus, they acquire the confidence to refer their patients to imaging service providers for care in a place that will provide a favorable experience, safely and effectively.
Who can be accredited by Padi?
Membership of Padi is voluntary. The program assesses compliance with minimum quality and safety criteria, applicable to any profile of institution (public or private), size of company or region of the country.
The following legally constituted Diagnostic Imaging services are eligible to apply for Padi: Bone Densitometry, Mammography, Nuclear Medicine, General Radiology, Interventional Radiology, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Computerized Tomography, Ultrasound and Teleradiology.
Padi will consider as legally constituted the Diagnostic Imaging service that presents the following up-to-date documents:
- City hall permit;
- Health surveillance permit;
- Registration with the Regional Medical Council (CRM);
- Registration of the technical manager with the CRM (document issued via the organization's website);
- Registration in the National Register of Health Establishments - CNES (document issued via the organization's website).
Only for Nuclear Medicine:
- Operating authorization issued by the National Nuclear Energy Commission - CNEN;
- License from CNEN establishing which radiopharmaceuticals the service can acquire and in what quantity;
- Radiological Protection Supervisor's Specialist Certificate in Radiodiagnostic Physics.
How does Padi work?
The entire process of registration, payment, image submission, scheduling and information exchange will be digital and online. After registering, the clinic or service will have a login and a password to access the restricted area of the site and communicate directly with the Padi team.
The program includes an evaluation of all the stages involved in a diagnostic imaging exam, from scheduling to receiving the report, including the exam itself, as well as a focus on patient safety.
For more information on each stage of the accreditation process, see the program regulations available at: link to the Padi regulations.
Can I have Padi in only one unit of my service or for only one of the imaging methods I offer my patients?
No. Padi accreditation is comprehensive and must be carried out throughout the federative state.
For the Padi accreditation process, all units linked to the commercial name (brand) of the candidate service must be included.
When the service has more than one CNPJ for the brand in the same federal state, the legal documents of all the units corresponding to that commercial name (brand) must be sent.
For those units that differ for some reason and which are therefore asked to abstain from participating in the Padi accreditation process, a formalized justification must be sent for evaluation and decision by Cadi.
Padi applies to the entire institution, encompassing all methods. If you are interested in quality certification for just one type of exam, you should join the CBR Quality Seal Program. For more information visit: https://cbr.org.br/cbr-clinicas/selos-de-qualidade/
To have Padi, do all the doctors on my clinical staff have to be members of the CBR?
No.
Padi requires that only the Technical Manager of the imaging service be in good standing with the CBR. However, in relation to the others, it is required that all doctors who work in the specialty sectors of the diagnostic imaging service and prepare reports must have completed a residency in Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging recognized by the MEC and/or hold a Specialist Title in Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging. The exceptions are described in the Padi Standard (available at this link).
How to participate in Padi?
The first step is to register on the program's website (registration link) to fill in the information that characterizes the size of the service (size and complexity) and send the quote. Once this has been accepted and the contract is in force, the service will go through the Document Analysis > Image Submissions > Technical Assessment of Examinations > Scheduling of a Face-to-Face Audit > Handling of NCs > Outcome phases.
For further clarification on each stage of the accreditation process, access the program's Regulations available at in this link.
How do I find out the fees for participating in the Program?
Padi values are based on the size of the service. To do this, the interested service must register on the program's website (registration link) to fill in the information that characterizes the size of the service (size and complexity). Based on this information, the Padi team will send the budget corresponding to the size of that service, with all the values broken down.
How long can I have Padi?
Each contract lasts three years, covering the program's three cycles: accreditation (face-to-face audit), 1st maintenance (observed face-to-face audit) and 2nd maintenance (virtual audit). At the end of the three-year period, the service can renew the contract and restart the assessment cycles.
For further information on each accreditation cycle, please access the program regulations available in this link.
What happens if the images and reports are not approved?
Padi is Brazil's first accreditation program in Diagnostic Imaging to assess the quality of exams and reports. The process is based on the CBR's consolidated experience with quality seals in diagnostic modalities.
The entire evaluation process is carried out confidentially and impartially. The radiologist auditor does not know which service the images belong to, nor which doctor made the report.
Services must send their images no more than three months after they were taken.
The program is educational. Any non-conformities found in the exams and/or reports will be reported to the clinic or service with the relevant comments.
The candidate will have a deadline to resubmit new studies for a second assessment.
After two analyses, if the exams remain unsuccessful and this percentage of failure is greater than 10% of all the exams sent in the first phase of image submission, the service will be unsuccessful in the program and can return for a new process after 01 year from the communication of the failure.
Who are Padi's auditors?
They are professionals from various areas of knowledge (health and management) trained by Padi through theoretical courses and audit practice. They are the only professionals able to evaluate the services under the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Program and are selected by the CBR team when the audits are scheduled.
There are also internal auditors, who are people from the service itself who are trained with the aim of preparing their workplace to participate in Padi. It is not mandatory for the clinic or service to have an internal auditor, but a person with this training certainly makes it easier to comply with the program's requirements, such as submitting the report of an internal audit of your Quality Management System (carried out no more than one year previously).
How was Padi developed?
Padi was created with the participation of renowned specialists in the medical and administrative areas, linked to the CBR or hired for this project, all with vast experience in Diagnostic Imaging. In September and October 2014, the Padi Standard was submitted to public consultation, gathering contributions from healthcare organizations and companies. This was followed by the first auditor training courses and pilot audits. All these experiences contributed to the maturing of the program.
Who manages Padi?
The Quality team appointed by the CBR itself. There is also the Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation Commission (Cadi), which is responsible, among other things, for designing the program's rules, discussing new measures and analyzing audit reports, along with the entire accreditation process, in order to decide on the issuance of each Accreditation Certificate.
What is the difference between Padi and the CBR Quality Seal Program?
The CBR's Quality Seal Program evaluates the method of performing imaging exams through information on equipment, clinical staff, images and reports. For this reason, certification is exclusive to the modality evaluated.
The main feature of the CBR's Quality Seal Program is the technical evaluation, focusing on the evaluation of the image and the report of the respective method.
In addition to the technical assessment, Padi has a broader scope that includes a face-to-face audit that assesses the entire service provision management chain.
What is ABCDI?
The Brazilian Association of Diagnostic Imaging Clinics (ABCDI) brings together the legal members of the Brazilian College of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, which can be clinics, hospitals, centers, units, departments and offices dedicated to diagnostic and/or treatment activities using imaging methods and/or ionizing radiation.
Find out more at abcdi.org.br
ABCDI member clinic or Padi accredited clinic, do you get a discount on registering for the Quality Seal Program? And on seal applications?
Services associated with ABCDI have a 30% discount on the monthly fee for the Padi Accreditation Program.
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