Today's health care organizations are held to very high levels of accountability -- by peers, by the general public, and by Medicare and other payers. ICAEL accreditation is a means by which echocardiography laboratories can evaluate and demonstrate the level of patient care they provide.

Committed to balancing the changing needs of both the echocardiography community and the general public, the ICAEL was created in 1996 by uniting physicians and sonographers from the sponsoring organizations. The physicians and sonographers on the ICAEL Board Of Directors composed The Standards, an extensive document defining the minimal requirements for echocardiography laboratories to provide high quality care. The Standards are used by laboratories as both a guideline and the foundation to create and achieve realistic quality care goals.

ICAEL accreditation is an educational process, not a pass-fail exam.

The process begins with a comprehensive self-evaluation by laboratory staff. Completion of the application for accreditation requires information on all aspects of laboratory operation as well as the submission of actual case studies for review. After a laboratory submits the application to the ICAEL, the application undergoes a confidential peer-review by the ICAEL's trained reviewers, including both physicians and sonographers, before a final decision is made by the Board Of Directors.

The ICAEL does not restrict accreditation to the "perfect" echocardiography laboratory.

Rather, accreditation is based on a policy of substantial compliance with The Standards. No laboratory is ever denied accreditation outright. Instead, the ICAEL provides guidance to assist the laboratory in meeting the requirements of The Standards.