North America’s three ISO 15189 accreditation bodies will be at Lab Quality Confab, along with most of the nation’s ISO-15189 accredited clinical pathology laboratories

In the United States and Canada, acceptance and use of ISO 15189:2007 Medical Laboratories has been limited to a handful of clinical pathology laboratories—except in the Canadian province of Ontario, where, starting almost eight years ago, ISO 15189 became the basis of the province’s mandatory clinical laboratory accreditation program.

But now more pathologists and clinical laboratory managers south of the U.S.–Canadian border are asking a fundamental question: “Is ISO 15189 accreditation an effective way to move my laboratory organization to higher levels of analytical quality while continuously reducing or eliminating errors that affect patient safety and clinical outcomes? More senior medical lab leaders are answering this question with a “yes.”

Clinical Laboratories Turning to ISO 15189

Evidence of the growing interest in ISO 15189 will be highly visible at a medical laboratory conference in San Antonio, Texas, that takes place on November 2-3, 2010. All three of the major ISO 15189 accrediting bodies in the United States will be at the Lab Quality Confab and Process Improvement Institute. Joining them will be the leaders from most the U.S. clinical laboratories currently accredited to the standards of ISO 15189.

Gathering together all these experts and lab users of ISO 15189 in one place at one time gives pathologists and clinical laboratory managers a cost-effective opportunity to learn how adopting ISO 15189 can put their own laboratory on the fast track to improved market share, lower costs, and increased clinical quality.

The three ISO 15189 accrediting bodies will conduct these sessions:

• SO 15189’s Essential ‘Do’s and Don’ts’: Lessons from Early-Adopter Laboratories, conducted by Georgene Cooke, CAP 15189 Market Manager, College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Trace Custer, Senior Director Regulatory Compliance, Genzyme Genetics
• QMS in the ISO World: What You Need to Know about ISO 9001 Certification and ISO 15189 Accreditation, led by Daniel Tholen, Technical Consultant, American Association for Laboratory, Accreditation (A2LA)
• Eight Years of ISO 15189 in Ontario Give Both Labs and Med Techs a Top Reputation and Better Access to Resources and Funding, given by Julie Coffey, Quality Manager, Quality Management Program-Laboratory Services (QMPLS)

To share the successes and lessons learned by the nation’s first ISO 15189-accreditated laboratories, also speaking at Lab Quality Confab will be the leaders from these medical laboratories: Spectra Laboratories, Inc. of Rockleigh, New Jersey; Genzyme Genetics, Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Avera McKennan Health System Laboratories, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

How Labs and Pathology Groups Are Using Lean and Six Sigma

These sessions will be among the more than 40 presentations and speakers who will take the podium at this fourth annual Lab Quality Confab. It is a comprehensive range of information, knowledge, and case studies about how clinical labs are using Lean, Six Sigma, and rapid process improvement methods to great advantage.

Poster sessions will take place, and national awards and prizes totaling $3,000 will be awarded. To see topics, speakers, and all the events at Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com.

To register for Lab Quality Confab, visit http://www.labqualityconfab.com/register

With more than 250 participants expected from as many as 10 different countries, Lab Quality Confab not only continues to be the most important meeting about performance improvement methods as used by innovative medical laboratories, but the large size of this meeting provides strong evidence that quality management and process improvement is now an established part of laboratory medicine. Interested lab managers and pathologists are encouraged to register today to guarantee their place at the Fourth Annual Lab Quality Confab.

Related Information:

•Full program information and speaker agenda for Lab Quality Confab:
•Complete Details About the Lean-Six Sigma Poster Presentations, National Trophies, and Cash Awards, along with Poster Presentation Application and Abstract forms:

Four Easy Ways to Register:

1. Register ONLINE
2. Call 800-560-6363. Our friendly staff can register you quickly and easily, as well as answer any questions you may have.
3. Fax this complete registration form to 512-264-0969
4. Mail the one page form with payment to:

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Genzyme Laboratory Recognized for Quality—December 09, 2009

Ontario’s Mandatory Accreditation to ISO:15189:2003, Quality Management Program—Laboratory Services, Ontario Laboratory Accreditation

ISO 15189:2007 Medical laboratories—Particular requirements for quality and competence

ISO 15189 Laboratory Accreditation