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Welcome to the Patient Information section of ICAVL online. The ICAVL provides the following information as a service to the general public. This section is designed to help prospective patients stay educated and informed about vascular technology and the importance of accredited laboratories.
IAC Accredited Facility Locator on QualityMedicalTesting.org
The Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC) has provided an additional website as a public service to educate patients on the importance of receiving medical care from an accredited laboratory.
Click on the IAC Accredited Facility Locator to find your lab today!
Go to QualityMedicalTesting.org»
What Does 'Vascular' Mean?
The word vascular refers to our body's circulatory system
— the blood vessels which carry blood from the heart to the
body's organs (the arteries) and from the organs back to the
heart (the veins).
What is Vascular Disease?
Vascular
disease refers to the unhealthy changes which occur in our blood
vessels as we age. Examples include plaque build-up in the arteries,
varicose veins and blood clots in the veins.
What is Vascular Ultrasound?
The
medical specialty of vascular technology utilizes diagnostic
ultrasound to generate images of blood flow within the veins
and arteries. Ultrasound uses high frequency sound waves, similar
to the sonar that a ship uses to detect structures beneath the
surface of the water. Vascular ultrasound can also be known
as a Doppler or duplex study. For example, if your physician
wants to make sure that you do not have a blood clot in your
leg, he or she might order a venous duplex or venous Doppler
examination.
Vascular
ultrasound procedures are noninvasive, meaning they do not
require the use of needles, dyes, radiation or anesthesia and
are, therefore, relatively painless and harmless.
The
information obtained through vascular ultrasound examinations
is extremely helpful to physicians in diagnosing a variety of
conditions related to cardiovascular disease, disorders of the
heart and blood vessels. Early detection of life-threatening
vascular diseases is possible through the use of noninvasive
vascular testing techniques performed within vascular laboratories.
Vascular
ultrasound's reliability in diagnosing conditions related to
heart disease and stroke is encouraging as we strive for ways
to reduce the more than 500,000 lives lost in the United States
each year to these disorders. However, it is critical that
the public realizes there are many facets that contribute to
an accurate diagnosis based on vascular ultrasound examinations.
These factors include the skill of the technologist/sonographer
performing the examination, the type of equipment used, the
background and knowledge of the interpreting physician and quality
assurance measures. In fact, poor ultrasound examinations often
lead to inconvenient, redundant studies, misdiagnosis and even
unnecessary tests or surgery.
ICAVL Accreditation — A "Seal of Approval" Patients Can
Count On.
Private
offices, clinics and departments within hospitals that are accredited
by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Vascular
Laboratories (ICAVL) voluntarily submit to a review of their
daily operations. By participating in the accreditation process,
these medical facilities demonstrate a commitment to the performance
of quality vascular testing and strive to meet nationally recognized
standards. During the accreditation process, applicant vascular
laboratories must submit documentation on every aspect of their
daily operations. While completing the application, laboratories
are required to identify and correct potential problems, revising
protocols and validating quality assurance programs. Applications
submitted, including samples of the vascular examinations performed,
are reviewed by experts throughout the United States and Canada.
Accreditation is granted only to those facilities that are found
to be providing quality patient care, in compliance with the
ICAVL Standards. Once granted, ICAVL accreditation is valid
for a period of three years, after which time the facility must
undergo a repeat evaluation.
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