Frequently Ask Questions

CUAP is the Clinical Ultrasound Accreditation Program. The program was developed by leaders within the ACEP Emergency Ultrasound Section with the support of the ACEP Board of Directors. The leaders within CUAP were appointed by the ACEP President and consist of ultrasound leaders throughout the world with an understanding of clinical ultrasound and whose goal it is to help accredit clinical ultrasound programs.

ACEP “Ultrasound Guidelines: Emergency, Point-of-Care, and Clinical Ultrasound Guidelines in Medicine” are the established standard. Any department, including all specialties that perform clinical ultrasound may exceed but must at least meet these standards to obtain CUAP accreditation.

Accreditation is an excellent way to convey to your patients, colleagues, and hospital administration that your program is first-rate and meets the standards set forth by ACEP in the ACEP policy statement, “Ultrasound Guidelines: Emergency, Point-of-Care, and Clinical Ultrasound Guidelines in Medicine.”

There are many reasons why CUAP can benefit your group, hospital, and ultrasound program. Established policies and procedures consistent with the requirements of CUAP assure the Quality Assurance standards are in place for your program. They include, but are not limited to, infection control, education, and peer review.

At its essence CUAP is meant to give you direction and organization in establishing and maintaining an exceptional ultrasound program. General guidelines and documents are available on this website and may serve as a resource in developing your program.

If a specialty group provides coverage at multiple hospitals the group can be accredited at each site. Each site would apply for its own accreditation at a discounted rate.

CUAP is accepting applications from clinical ultrasound programs throughout the world.

Any specialty that performs clinical ultrasound in caring for its patients.

Accreditation lasts 3 years. The renewal process is minimal and offered at a discounted rate.

Each site managed by a group can seek accreditation and will require an individualized application, at a discounted rate, that represents the policies and procedures at each physical site. A hospital may apply for system-wide accreditation for its physical location site. System-wide accreditation refers to a single physical location. A hospital system that would like to seek accreditation for multiple hospitals may do so by submitting separate applications for each physical location.

We believe that the use of ultrasound and its processes may not be uniform, even within a health care system, so separate applications are needed to ensure the integrity of the accreditation process.

Once you have submitted a completed application, it will be reviewed by 2 emergency ultrasound expert physicians. You may be asked additional questions to clarify parts of the application. The application then must be approved by the Board of Governors. The process is anticipated to take approximately 8-12 weeks.

If you deleted your application and have changed your mind, please call 800-798-1822, ext 3235 or send us an email. Applications that are older than 3 months will not be reinstated.

The CUAP application fee is $2000 for the initial department/facility and $1000 for each additional department/facility that is under the direction of the same physician group. Accreditation is granted for 3 years. The renewal fee is $750 for the department/facility application and $500 for each additional department/facility.

There are a number of required documents that will be needed for your application. You can visit the Getting Started page for a list of sample documents that can get you started.

It will be essential that you have:

• An ultrasound director position description
• Details of any ultrasound education you offer to colleagues, residents, nurses, etc. (If applicable)
• The credentialing application used at your hospital for ultrasound
• Protocols of supervision if there are non-credentialed providers performing ultrasound (If applicable)
• A copy of an ultrasound report if you bill/document for ultrasounds
• Your infection control/safety (ALARA) and machine maintenance policies
• Continuous quality management program description (QA/QI process, callback process, feedback process)
• Confidentiality and privacy process

Through the portal, CUAP offers sample documents to help guide programs that are gorwing and developing ultrasound protocols. These documents can be used as a guide to create a safet and effective point-of-care ultrasound program. 

Additionally, CUAP offers a mentoring process for developing programs to help facilitate program development. If you are interested in being mentored, please reach out to CUAP@acep.org for further information.