The impact of virtual site visits on sonography program accreditation
By Catherine Rienzo, Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography
Introduction
While programmatic and institutional accreditation remain the vital components of quality education, the associated costs of a site visit can be high, especially when the technology is available to accomplish this
process virtually. In the wake of the COVID-19 global pandemic, it also became evident that a virtual site visit was the only viable means to accredit diagnostic medical sonography programs, given safety concerns for site visitors.
Methods
The study followed a mixed method, quasi-experimental design. These virtual site visits include all learning concentrations (e.g., general sonography, adult cardiac sonography, and vascular technology) along with programs offering a multi-concentration educational program (i.e., combinations of any of the listed learning concentrations). This research was based on three quantitative questions and a fourth qualitative question.
Results
The data analyses confirmed the McEwan and Walsh theory that the virtual accreditation site visit is a viable option given the many possibilities of communication technologies available today. This cost-saving alternative has the potential to reshape the rigorous accreditation process while saving educational institutions the expense of the on-site visit, which the program directors noted.
Conclusion
A future study of this kind could be enhanced by using a larger sample size than the 28 programs that participated in this study. Take home message In an era of cutting costs and maximizing efficiency while still upholding the integrity of the programmatic accreditation, the virtual site visit does maintain the effectiveness and efficiency of the accrediting process.