Congratulations to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) for achieving ISO 15189 Plus™ Diagnostic Imaging Accreditation from the Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH).

Accreditation to ISO 15189 Plus™ is a mark of excellence recognized around the world embracing the quality principles of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

OSMH is at the forefront of a growing number of Diagnostic Imaging facilities in Ontario that recognize the value of ISO 15189 Plus™ accreditation in elevating expectations for quality diagnostic imaging services that will ultimately improve patient safety. 

Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital (OSMH) is a community hospital located in the City of Orillia, providing regional programs to the residents of Simcoe County and Muskoka.

The scope of accreditation at OSMH includes the following diagnostic imaging services:

• Bone Mineral Densitometry
• Computed Tomography (CT)
• General Radiography
• Interventional Radiology
• Mammography
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• Nuclear Medicine (NM)
• Ultrasound

Kate Smith, Manager of Diagnostic Imaging at OSMH had the following to say about the IQMH ISO 15189 Plus™ accreditation process:

Confidence in Our Competence

 OSMH, embarked on the quality management system implementation journey in 2019. There have been many ups and a few downs but our team demonstrably improved quality and consistency in 12 months. We continue to expand our quality practices on a weekly basis and of course the quality management system provides us with a strong foundation to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic with confidence. 

OSMH is continually adapting, finding opportunity with uncertainty and is relentless in its approach to continual quality and safety improvement. Accreditation is the evaluation of processes to ensure quality and competence, through conformance to an acknowledged standard. Clients accessing services like diagnostic imaging expect reliability and high quality.

OSMH has achieved this high Accreditation standard to elevate the confidence of patients, physicians, nurses, facility administration and government. ISO 15189 is the standard of choice for the accreditation of medical diagnostic facilities. It requires standardized processes and procedures for both quality system and technical requirements. It sets up a no-blame environment that drives continual improvement, establishes an interface with users and ensures the reliability and accuracy of test results. Accreditation elevates confidence in the system.

IQMH Accreditation Assessment Team

The IQMH accreditation assessment team was composed of professional peers selected to provide the technical expertise for the entire scope of the services.

Their comments:

The OSMH Diagnostic Imaging team DI team opened their doors to us during the assessment visit and couldn’t have made us feel more welcomed. They showcased dedication as invested patient care providers through evidence of a solid quality management framework, extending throughout their modality programs and department culture. The Orillia community can have confidence that this Imaging department demonstrates a high level of commitment to excellence and the road of continual improvement. Congratulations to Jeff Kerk, Kate Smith, and Chief Radiologist Dr. Noah Wortsman and their dedicated teams for achieving this prestigious ISO 15189 Plus™ Accreditation status. 

It was a true pleasure to be a part of the assessment team for the Orillia site visit.  It was very evident for the onset of the visit that there was engagement, support, and excitement for the accreditation process. The team was incredibly welcoming which made the accreditation process easy to navigate from the lens of an assessor. The amount of work, commitment and dedication to the process was evident throughout the visit. Well done and congratulations on achieving your ISO 15189 Plus™ Accreditation!

The IQMH process is not punitive, but a peer evaluation. It is about observing and ensuring standards are met. It is an opportunity for modalities in DI to showcase how they are meeting requirements and at the same time cultivating new ideas for continuous quality improvement. I absolutely enjoyed my time as an assessor with the IQMH team at Orillia Memorial Soldiers' Hospital.

The OSMH Diagnostic Imaging team has committed to quality improvement. It was great to see the progress they have made throughout this journey

Congratulations and thank you to the staff of Diagnostic Imaging at Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital for their commitment to successfully achieving ISO 15189 Plus™ Accreditation.

Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital Diagnostic Imaging team with IQMH accreditation assessors