Seattle Reproductive Medicine Embryology Laboratory has been awarded an accreditation with distinction by the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation of the College of American Pathologists (CAP), based on the results of a recent on-site rigorous inspection of processes and documentation.
Begun in 1960s, the program is recognized by the federal government as being equal or more stringent than the government's own inspection program. Basically, CAP inspectors examine the records and quality control of the laboratory, the education and qualification of the total laboratory staff, the adequacy of the facilities, the equipment, laboratory safety and laboratory managment to determine how well the laboratory is serving the patient. Such distinction provides confidence the best quality care is being provided for the SRM patient.
The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program is an internationally recognized program and the only one of its kind that utilizes teams of practicing laboratory professionals as inspectors. Our current lab director, Dr. Ron Carson, is a CAP inspector himself. Designed to go well beyond regulatory compliance, the program helps laboratories achieve the highest standards of excellence to positively impact patient care.
The program is based on rigorous accreditation standards that are translated into detailed and focused checklist questions. The checklists, which provide a quality practice blueprint for laboratories to follow, are used by the inspection teams as a guide to assess the overall management and operation of the laboratory.
The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program meets the needs of a variety of laboratory settings from complex university medical centers to physician office laboratories. The program also covers a complete array of disciplines and testing procedures. Because of its comprehensive nature, CAP accreditation can help achieve a consistently high level of service throughout an institution or healthcare system.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program deeming authority. It is also recognized by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and can be used to meet many state certification requirements. The CAP also provides laboratory accreditation to forensic urine drug testing and reproductive laboratories, co-sponsored with the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).
An accredited laboratory is one that is inspected by a private not-for-profit accrediting organization that has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its requirements deemed as equivalent to or more stringent than CMS's regulatory requirements. An approved accrediting organization can inspect a laboratory in lieu of CMS.
The goal of the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program is to improve patient safety by advancing the quality of pathology and laboratory services through education, standard setting, and ensuring laboratories meet or exceed regulatory requirements. Upon successful completion of the inspection process, the laboratory is awarded CAP accreditation and becomes part of an exclusive group of more than 6,000 laboratories worldwide that have met the highest standards of excellence. |
