It
demonstrates a commitment to quality care.
The purpose of the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation
of Vascular Laboratories (ICAVL) is "to ensure high quality patient care and to promote health care by providing a mechanism to encourage and recognize the provision of quality noninvasive vascular diagnostic testing by a process of voluntary accreditation." Through
the accreditation process, laboratories assess every aspect
of daily operation and its impact on the quality of health care
provided to patients. While completing the accreditation application,
laboratories often identify and correct potential problems,
revising protocols and validating quality assurance programs.
Because accreditation is renewed every three years, a long-term
commitment to quality and self-assessment is developed and maintained.
Laboratories may use ICAVL accreditation as the foundation to
create and achieve realistic quality care goals.
It
provides a confidential peer-review.
Designed
to serve laboratories as an educational tool, ICAVL accreditation
is made up of two crucial steps. First, laboratories conduct
a detailed self-evaluation using The ICAVL Standards
and the application. Completion of the application requires
detailed information on all aspects of laboratory operation
as well as the submission of actual case studies for review.
The case studies are crucial in determining the laboratory's
compliance with The Standards, and are the basis for
judgment of the quality of work that laboratories perform. Once
the self-evaluation is completed, the documents and case studies
are reviewed by the ICAVL Board of Directors. All aspects of
the review are confidential.
It's
a recruiting tool.
Accredited
laboratories can use their accreditation as a recruiting tool
to attract the best and brightest physicians and technologists.
Talented professionals look for high-quality programs, and accreditation
assures potential employees that a laboratory is dedicated to
achieving the highest standards for patient care.
It's
intersocietal.
The
ICAVL is a nonprofit organization established with the support
of the twelve sponsoring organizations. Representatives from
these organizations, including sonographers, technologists,
and physicians, serve on the ICAVL Board of Directors. All areas
of noninvasive vascular testing were represented during the
creation of The Standards for accreditation, and all
areas continue to steer the accreditation process.
It's proven successful.
In
its second decade offering noninvasive vascular accreditation,
the ICAVL has proven itself successful, and reimbursement for
vascular laboratories in more than 30 states hinges on either
laboratory accreditation or technologist certification. During
the past decade, ICAVL accreditation has been used as the model
for similar programs in other specialties. Echocardiography
laboratories are able to seek accreditation through the
ICAEL.
Nuclear medicine, nuclear cardiology, and PET laboratories
are served by the ICANL.
Magnetic resonance laboratories may seek accreditation
through the ICAMRL.
Computed tomography laboratories may apply through the
ICACTL.
Collectively, these five accrediting divisions form the
Intersocietal
Accreditation Commission (IAC).
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