PRESS RELEASE
THE DARK REPORT
21806 Briarcliff Dr.
Spicewood, Texas 78669
512-264-7103 o
512-264-0969 f
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ron Martin
rbmartin@darkreport.com
AUSTIN, Texas (January 9, 2015) — Compliance with CLIA requirements is essential for every medical laboratory that performs non-waived testing. A major change in how labs must meet quality control standards is about to take place, with an effective date of January 1, 2016. This new development opens up a way for laboratories to meet the quality control standards of CLIA. The revisions published by CMS now allow labs to develop and use an IQCP (Individual Quality Control Plan) as a way to meet these new quality control standards.
“This fact should have the attention of every laboratory director of a CLIA-accredited lab,” stated Robert L. Michel, Editor-in-Chief of The Dark Report. “These changes should be understood by every director of a CLIA laboratory. Once effective in 2016, IQCP will supersede the current CLIA policy for EQC—Equivalent Quality Control. After January 1, 2016, labs will no longer have the option of using EQC.”
“It is important that laboratories understand why this will happen,” continued Michel, “along with what they must do after that date to demonstrate to inspectors that their lab’s quality control program is up to date and effective.”
To help laboratory directors and their key managers prepare for this significant change in CLIA requirements, a special 90-minute webinar entitled “Medicare’s New IQCP Requirements: What You Need to Know, What Your Lab Must Do” will be presented on Thursday January 22, 2015, at 1:00 PM EST.
This is an essential session for anyone responsible for quality control at a CLIA-accredited laboratory. Key presenter for the webinar is Rose Mary Casados, President of COLA Resources, Inc. From Casados, participants will learn about the big three—risk assessment, quality assurance, and quality control—and the role each plays in a laboratory’s development of an IQCP. Also being presented is a lab case study where the lab team is already moving forward with establishing an IQCP program that fits the CLIA requirements issued by CMS. Terri Criswell from Amarillo Medical Specialists will discuss how her lab team prioritized the development and implementation of IQCP in their lab. Practical insights from the lab’s lessons learned about what works best, and the common pitfalls to avoid will also be covered.
Just some of the valuable information to be presented during this 90-minute webinar:
- The basics of an individual quality control plan and what makes it different from other approaches to lab quality control
- The proper procedures for risk assessment
- Identification of the sources of potential failures and errors in a testing process that impact the accuracy and precision of test results
- How laboratory staff can best evaluate risks specific to their labs
- Reducing and mitigating residual risk with defined processes and tools
- Developing quality assurance protocols that focus on providing confidence that quality requirements will be fulfilled
- Steps necessary to building an individualized quality control plan
As an extra value-added benefit of this webinar, the end of the session will be opened up for a live Q&A. For more information about “Medicare’s New IQCP Requirements: What You Need to Know, What Your Lab Must Do,” and to view webinar details including presenter biographies and pricing, visit darkdaily.com/IQCPWebinar. You may also contact Ron Martin at 512-264-7103.
About THE DARK REPORT
Established in 1995, THE DARK REPORT is the leading source of exclusive business intelligence for laboratory CEOs, COOs, CFOs, Pathologists and Senior industry executives. It is widely read by leaders in laboratory medicine and diagnostics. The Dark Report produces the famous Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management every spring, which showcases innovations by the nation’s and globe’s leading laboratory organizations. Dark Daily is an Internet-based e-briefing intelligence service, read worldwide by thought leaders in laboratory and pathology management. Other well-known conferences conducted by THE DARK REPORT are Lab Quality Confab (on the use of Lean and Six Sigma methods in labs and hospitals), Molecular Summit (on the integration of in vivo and in vitro diagnostics). THE DARK REPORT co-produces Frontiers in Laboratory Medicine annually in the United Kingdom; Executive Edge bi-annually in Canada; and The Business of Pathology bi-annually in Australia.
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