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The
ICACTL accreditation process functions on a quarterly schedule;
application deadlines are the first of March, June, September,
and December (or the first working day of the month if the first
day falls on a weekend or federal holiday). Upon an application's
arrival at the ICACTL office, it is unpacked and organized for
processing. The application is then assigned an identification
number and filed in a holding area.
Once the application is placed in the holding file, it is ready to
undergo an in-house review of the organization application
and a general review of the remaining application sections to
asses the completeness and appropriateness of the materials
submitted. This is not a review of the technical components
of the application. If obvious information has not been included
in the application (e.g., an inappropriate number of case studies
is submitted), the ICACTL staff contacts the laboratory to request
needed information. It is advantageous to the laboratory to
send this information by the requested deadline, to avoid the
application being held for final review until the following
quarter. The purpose of the in-house review is to assist in
avoiding some unnecessary delays; upon complete review, however,
the Board of Directors may request additional information prior
to making the accreditation decision.
During the course of the in-house review, the applications are assigned
to application reviewers. Application reviewers include
physicians, technologists and physicists; all are employed in
accredited laboratories, are credentialed and have attended
an invitational training workshop with the ICACTL. Each application
is assigned and shipped to two reviewers, based upon each reviewer's
availability and expertise. Over the next four to six weeks,
the application reviewers complete a detailed review of clinical
components, including the case studies, for adherence to the
ICACTL Standards.
Upon completion of each application's review, the comments and recommendations
are returned to the ICACTL office. These comments are compiled
and further reviewed by the ICACTL Technical Manager and the
Director of Accreditation, in preparation for discussion and
the final review by the ICACTL Board of Directors.
Once the Board of Directors meets and makes the final accreditation
decisions, the Technical Manager notifies each laboratory, in
writing, of the Board decisions and any additional information
required to grant accreditation. These notification letters
are given priority and are sent in the timeliest manner possible.
Two copies of the correspondence are sent to the laboratory;
an original to the Medical Director, and a copy to the Technical
Director. When accreditation is granted, the official certificate,
logo CD, press release and Application Review Findings CD accompany
the letter; these documents are sent UPS Ground to the attention
of the Medical Director.
As illustrated above, there are a number of avenues through which
an accreditation application must travel in order to complete
the process. However, it should be reassuring to laboratories
that the process of reviewing applications and determining accreditation
decisions, though somewhat lengthy, is thorough and intensive
-- a fitting complement to the time, effort and preparation
put forth by those seeking accreditation.
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