Accreditation is a voluntary process by which a non-governmental agency grants a time-limited recognition to an institution, organization, business, or other entity after verifying it has met predetermined and standardized criteria. In sonography, 

See clinical and educational program accreditation standards/guidelines.

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Certificates are awarded upon the successful completion of a brief course of study, usually one year or less, but at times longer, primarily in public or private two-year institutions of higher education, university extension programs, or non-degree granting postsecondary institutions such as career and technical education schools. Upon completion of ​the course of study, a certificate does not require any further action to retain.

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Certificate of Completion is generally awarded when a person has completed a limited course of study (e.g., CME course). It is intended to show successful completion and does not necessarily indicate competence in the areas covered.

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Certification is ​a voluntary process by which a non-governmental entity grants a time-limited recognition and issues of a credential to an individual after verifying that he or she has met predetermined and standardized criteria. It is the vehicle that a profession or occupation uses to differentiate among its members, using standards, sometimes developed through a consensus-drive process, based on existing legal and psychometric requirements. The holder of a professional certification is known as a certificant.

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Continuing Medical Education (CME) consists of educational activities which serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a ​sonographer uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. It also encompass continuing educational activities that assist ​sonographers in carrying out their professional responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. Examples of general CME topic​ categories include:

• Clinical 
• Management
• Educational methodology
• Practice management
• Coding and reimbursement
• Research

Note: CME may also be referred to as "continuing education" (CE).

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Credentialing is ​an umbrella term that may include the concepts of accreditation, licensure, registration, and professional certification. Credentialing can establish criteria for fairness, quality, competence, and/or safety for sonography services or educational programs. Credentialing is the process by which an entity, authorized and qualified to do so, grants formal recognition to, or records the recognition status of individuals, organizations, institutions, programs, processes, and services that meet predetermined and standardized criteria.

The term credentialing may also describe a process used to determine eligibility to practice in a facility or to comply with insurance company requirements. More commonly, this use of credentialing applies to physicians, but it may also be used by a facility's human resources or imaging department to describe the process used to ensure that sonographers meets all facility policies (e.g., sonographer certifications, CPR training, etc.).

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Table 1.

	Recipient	Credentialing Body	Participation
Certification	Individual	Non-governmental entity (e.g., ARDMS, ARRT, CCI)	Voluntary
State Licensure or Certification	Individual	Government Agency (e.g., North Dakota Dept. of Health, Oregon Medical Imaging Board, etc.)	Involuntary/Required
Medical Facility Accreditation	Institution or Facility	Non-governmental entity (e.g., The Joint Commission, ACR, IAC, AIUM, etc.)	Voluntary
Certification or Credentialing ​Organization Accreditation	Non-governmental sonography certification organization (e.g., ARDMS, ARRT, CCI)	Non-governmental entity (e.g., Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE)/National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) or the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB))	Voluntary
Institutional Accreditation	Institution	Non-governmental entity (e.g.,North Central Association of Colleges and Schools)	Voluntary/Mandatory (may be required to receive federal student grant/loan funds)
Programmatic Accreditation	Institution or Program	Non-governmental entity (e.g., CAAHEP)	Voluntary (but with programmatic accreditations, graduates may be able to take sonography certification examinations without additional clinical experience)

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Licensure is ​the mandatory process by which a governmental agency grants time-limited permission to an individual to engage in a given occupation after verifying that he/she has met predetermined standardized criteria, and offers title protection for those who meet the criteria.

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Although often incorrectly used interchangeably with certification, registered or registration refers to the annual registration process for individuals who are certified/credentialed by a sonography certification/credentialing organization (also referred to as a ​registry). Individuals typically must pay an annual registration fee and may have to demonstrate completion of continuing education or continuing competency requirements.

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