From left, Dean of the School of Nursing Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D.; Peter I. Buerhaus, Ph.D.; keynote speaker Patricia Grady, Ph.D.; and Melanie Lutenbacher, Ph.D., celebrate the 10th anniversary of the School of Nursing’s Ph.D. in Nursing Science Program. Photo by Dana Johnson
Byrd named president of ICAEL
Benjamin F. Byrd III, M.D., has been elected president of The Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL).
ICAEL is the national accreditation group for echocardiography laboratories, which was founded in 1996 by a physician and sonographer organization in an effort to define minimal requirements for echo labs providing high-quality care.
Byrd, professor of Medicine and director of the Echo Lab at Vanderbilt, has served as the American College of Cardiology representative on the ICAEL board of directors since its inception.
Vanderbilt became the first accredited echo lab in the state in 1997, and this year became the first to receive re-accreditation. Byrd was president-elect of the ICAEL prior to being named to the two-year presidential post.
“I look forward to leading the board of directors as we continue our pursuit of improving the quality of echocardiography throughout the country by encouraging labs to voluntarily participate in the process,” he said.
“The American College of Cardiology now recommends lab accreditation in echocardiography be pursued by its 30,000 members.” “We expect a rapid growth in accredited labs over the next two years, which will greatly benefit patients undergoing echocardiography — now the primary imaging tool in cardiology.”