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Show Am. Fork Hospital recognized nationally The American Fork Hospital ! Laboratory has been awarded a two- year accreditation by the Commission Com-mission on Laboratory Accreditation Ac-creditation of the College of American Pathologists (CAD. The accreditation is based on results of a recent on-site inspection, according to Craig M. Smedley, hospital administrator. ad-ministrator. ; John K. Duckworth, M.D., FCAP, j chairman of the commission, ad vised Steven W. Freestone, M.D., 1 Laboratory Director, and John i Linebaugh, Department Manager, ' of this national recognition and ! congratulated them and their staff on the "excellence of services you are providing patients and their physicians." The Laboratory at American Fork Hospital is one of 3,000 CAP-accredited laboratories in the nation. The accreditation program was begun in the early 1960's - the first peer-review program for clinical laboratory accreditation. Even before government agencies mandated it, pathologists voluntarily volun-tarily were inspecting and accrediting ac-crediting laboratories to maintain the highest quality facilities possible, officials noted. Today the CAP Laboratory Accreditation Ac-creditation Program is one of the . few recognized by the federal government as requiring adherence to standards equal to or more stringent than the government's own. The inspection itself is one of the most rigorous a laboratory can experience, officials said, and may require up to a year of advance' preparation by the laboratory staff. The program uses unpaid (but well-qualified) volunteer pathologists, doctoral scientists, medical technologists, and pathology residents from college-accredited college-accredited laboratories to inspect and evaluate laboratory services and provide unbiased consulting services to the laboratory. Each inspection team is headed by a board-certified pathologist with specialized training in the inspection process. The inspectors examine the records and quality control of the laboratory for the preceding two years, as well as the education and qualifications of the total staff, the adequacy of the facilities, the equipment, laboratory safely, and laboratory management to determine deter-mine how well the laboratory is serving the patient. The College of American Pathologists is a national medical specially society of physicians certified by the American Board of Pathology. |
