A Word From Our President

by John Gocke, MD, MPH, RVT
ICAVL President

from the Special Edition December 2002 issue

With customer service as my number one priority throughout my tenure as President, it is with great interest and hope for the future that I study the results of the recent ICAVL Customer Survey. First, I would like to extend my gratitude to Joanne Drago, LPN, RVT, the ICAVL Board member who chaired the Customer Service Task Force. I thank Dr. Bluth, the co-chair and all the task force members for their time and efforts in creating this important survey and now presenting us with the summarized responses you view in this newsletter. I thank each of you for taking the time to complete the survey and submitting your thoughts to us. I can assure you that the Board Of Directors and staff of the ICAVL consider all of the responses important and significant. These results provide the Board with a systematic evaluation of the organization "from the outside - in." This data gives the Board a measure of how the processes we have created since 1990 are viewed by the most important audience of all, the laboratories that the ICAVL accredits. The most valuable aspect of the survey data to me is its point of view: as seen directly through the eyes of our applicant laboratories, the stakeholders of the accreditation process.

While a great deal of positive feedback was collected through the survey, we cannot ignore that fully 40% of respondents found the complexity of the entire accreditation process excessive and too rigorous; 45% found the application too time consuming. I can assure you that the ICAVL Board is examining ways to make the accreditation process a less arduous task. The ultimate goal of this effort is to streamline the accreditation process, without compromising the essence of the standards that continue to provide the foundation of quality that have become synonymous with achieving ICAVL accreditation.

The entire ICAVL organization, its volunteer Board Of Directors, and staff, are committed to improving and streamlining everything we ask you to do. We have already devoted the majority of a recent September meeting to discussing how to do this while focusing on the newly developed mission statement: "The ICAVL is dedicated to promoting high-quality noninvasive vascular diagnostic testing in the delivery of health care by providing a peer review process of laboratory accreditation." We believe we can substantially simplify the paperwork we ask you to complete. We will spend the majority of the winter Board meeting completing this task. You have clearly spoken to us through the Customer Satisfaction Survey. It is the Board's job to help ensure that the entire accreditation process is one that you want to participate in, both now, and in the future.

The ICAVL is, in essence, the sum of its accredited labs. It can only be made better by and through your participation. Watch for the upcoming changes, and please continue to give us feedback! It has been a distinct honor for me to serve the vascular community in my role as President. Thank you.

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