News & Events

JRC-DMS Accreditation Online Portal and Annual Report Information

The Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography is pleased to announce the launch of an accreditation online portal for submission of annual reports. DMS Programs will be required to complete and submit their annual report within their account on the accreditation portal. The JRC-DMS is in the initial stages of transitioning the 2020 version of the self-study to the online portal. Announcement of the availability of the 2020 self-study version on the portal will be made once fully implemented.

The annual report instrument on the accreditation portal was launched earlier this year for DMS programs in the March submission group. The following is a list of some essential information to help prepare you for the annual report process:

• Contact your IT personnel to ensure the following domains and/or email addresses are whitelisted for your institution: @intersocietal.org, @jrcdms.org and @armaturecorp.org.
• The annual fee invoices will be sent by Brandy Mertz (mertz@intersocietal.org), on or about the 1st of the month, one month prior to your submission group month (May 1st for the June group, August 1st for the September group and November 1st for the December group).  The due date for the annual fee is the 15th day of your submission month.
• All Program Directors will receive an auto-generated security e-mail from the online portal. The login page for the portal is: https://portal.jrcdms.org/#/auth/login.
• Clinical Affiliate spreadsheets will be located in the document library of your program’s online account.
• Linda Howard, JRC-DMS Accreditation Specialist, will send a reminder message detailing when programs can expect access to the portal, receive invoices and the new Annual Report process/timeline. Instructional resources will be provided. Programs in the June AR submission group may contact her with Annual Report or online portal concerns. If you have any questions or encounter any technical difficulties with the annual report or online portal, she is available to provide assistance via e-mail at howard@intersocietal.org or phone at 443-973-3250.

Definitions of Cohort and Re-Entry Students

The JRC-DMS is now requiring all DMS programs to report admission and graduation information on annual reports by cohorts. Student retention outcomes also take into account re-entry students. To provide a better understanding of this, the following are definitions of Cohort and Re-Entry Students (Policy 902.B):

Cohort:

• A group of students who begin on the same date, follow a similar education plan, and share a designated completion date. Cohort is further defined based on designated groupings, such as, but not limited to, program track, multi-campus group, and/or award at completion.
• Examples of designated cohorts: multi-campus group, day cohort, evening cohort, Certificate, AS degree, BS degree or by selected concentration areas (i.e., Abdomen/OBGYN, Adult Cardiac/Vascular, etc.).

Re-Entry Students:

• Students who withdraw from a cohort are counted as part of the retention/attrition for the cohort in which the student started. Upon re-entry into the program, the student is counted in the cohort the student joined.

Revised Annual Report Template

FEBRUARY 2019 | The JRC-DMS Annual Report Template has been revised and will be required beginning with the March 2019 due dates. Among the key features of the revised annual report template include the following:

Clinical Affiliates

• Listing of clinical affiliates where accredited specialties are performed. Examples: Programs accredited in the general concentration only list abdominal and OB/GYN clinical sites. Programs accredited in the adult cardiac list their affiliates for adult cardiac student placement.
• A column to indicate whether a current contract/agreement is on file.

Information Tab

• Required signatures of the Program Director and Dean upon completion of the annual report.

Outcomes Tab

• Reporting of student retention with revised threshold (see new policy below) and with codes to report reason(s).
• Up to three years of reporting of action plans.

Supplemental Sites

• Listing of supplemental clinical affiliates (i.e., inactive sites or sites used for student observation).
• Examples: Programs accredited only in the general concentration may list vascular clinical sites that are used for student observation. Programs accredited in adult cardiac may list pediatric cardiac or vascular clinical sites used for student observation.