Women and Infants News

Prenatal Diagnosis Centers Achieve Ultrasound Accreditation

Written by Care New England | September 10, 2020

Release Date: 03/06/2018

Women & Infants Hospital’s Prenatal Diagnosis Centers in Providence, RI and North Dartmouth, MA have achieved re-accreditation from the Ultrasound Practice Accreditation Council of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine. This accreditation is in the specialties of adjunct detailed fetal anatomic ultrasound level 2 ultrasound studies), and first, second, and third trimester obstetric ultrasound.

The Prenatal Diagnosis Centers achieved this recognition by meeting rigorous voluntary guidelines set by the diagnostic ultrasound profession. All facets of the practice were assessed, including the training and qualifications of physicians and sonographers; ultrasound equipment maintenance; documentation; storage and record-keeping practices; policies and procedures to protect patients and staff; quality assurance methods; and the thoroughness, technical quality, and interpretation of the sonograms the practice performs.

“Ultrasound is one of the most common tests during pregnancy for women who are at high risk or low risk of complications. It is an invaluable tool in obtaining much-needed information about a baby’s anatomy and structure, particularly if there is concern about fetal problems based on other prenatal tests, genetic risks, medication use, or a medical condition,” said Stephen R. Carr, MD, director of Women & Infants’ Prenatal Diagnosis Center and Maternal-Fetal Medicine Diagnostic Imaging. “This accreditation in obstetric and fetal ultrasound is a testament to the talent and commitment to excellence of each and every one of our staff in the Prenatal Diagnosis Center.”

The Prenatal Diagnosis Centers (PDC) offers specialized services, comprehensive screening, and counseling to help pregnant women and their health care providers better understand a potentially high-risk pregnancy. The PDC is staffed by nurses, genetic counselors with master’s degree training in clinical genetics, and obstetrician-gynecologists with further training in maternal-fetal medicine, a sub-specialty of obstetrics that focuses on pregnancies with maternal or fetal problems.

 

 

About Women & Infants Hospital 

Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is the 9th largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,500 deliveries per year. A Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital, in 2009 Women & Infants opened what was at the time the country’s largest, single-family room neonatal intensive care unit.

Women & Infants and Brown offer fellowship programs in gynecologic oncology, maternal-fetal medicine, urogynecology and reconstructive pelvic surgery, neonatal-perinatal medicine, pediatric and perinatal pathology, gynecologic pathology and cytopathology, and reproductive endocrinology and infertility. It is home to the nation’s first mother-baby perinatal psychiatric partial hospital, as well as the nation’s only fellowship program in obstetric medicine.

Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; a Center of Biomedical Research Excellence by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence. It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network.