Ask The Expert
the test in which they failed , and document retraining of that person .
Can you sort out some of the acronyms I keep dealing with ? CLIA , COLA , PT , CAP , JCAHO . Very confusing .
Confusing , you bet . But as long as the government exists , we will always have long , useless acronyms . Let ’ s get started :
CLIA – CLIA stands for Clinical Laboratory Improvement ACT . Its original intent was to put rules and regulations in place , at the federal level , to make labs safer and more accountable . CLIA now means a biannual inspection process for all non-waived laboratories .
Next is a list of agencies the CLIA has deemed as being able to do the biannual lab inspections on their behalf . These agencies perform the inspections and then send their results on the CLIA . All of the deemed agencies are considered a higher level of compliance than CLIA
AABB - American Association of Blood Banks They inspect blood banks only
AOA – American Osteopathic Association They have a Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program
ASHI - American Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics They inspect genetic related laboratories
CAP - College of American Pathologists They primarily accredit hospital and reference laboratories , although they do accredit some physician office labs as well . Their laboratory regulations are considered a higher standard than the federal regulations .
COLA – COLA primarily inspects and accredits physician office laboratories , although they do accredit some hospital labs as well . Their laboratory regulations are considered a higher standard than the federal regulations . This is my pick for office lab accreditation . JCAHO - The Joint Commission , formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations , accredits hospital systems , with the lab inspections being a part of it , if the health system has laboratories .
Next are a few acronyms you may encounter as part of a physician office laboratory .
PT - This stands for Proficiency Testing . If your lab performs even one Non-Waived test , your lab must participate in Proficiency Testing . There are several companies that offer PT testing as required by the CLIA regulation for Non-Waived testing . Next month we will look at the PT process more fully .
ASAP – This stands for as soon as possible . This can be part of a test order where results are needed quickly . As a former physician office lab person , I know every test seems ASAP .
STAT – This stands for “ ASAP is not good enough , get my results NOW ”. STAT usually accompanies orders when the patient ’ s condition could be critical . You should halt any other testing and perform this test immediately . POHOF – This stands for Palm Of Hand On Forehead . Just for those moments when you realize what you should have done . Could of had a V8 .
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16 Physicians Office Resource