COLA Resources Inc (CRI), Columbia, Md, a provider of online continuing education for physicians, laboratory personnel, and allied health professionals, is offering new COLA laboratory clients free preassessment surveys, designed to provide them with the guidance and tools they need to ensure accurate test results and meet regulatory requirements.
During the onsite visits, which are separate from the formal COLA survey, a CRI education surveyor educates lab personnel on any areas of non-compliance and provides recommendations on how to correct these deficiencies, while also providing a summary of the lab’s strengths and weaknesses.
Labs that have taken part in the mock inspections have experienced on average 80% fewer citations during their initial formal accreditation survey.
James Liggins, COLA Resources Inc.
“These courtesy pre-surveys go to the heart of CRI’s mission, which is to use a program of educational and consultative services to help healthcare professionals create continuous quality standards that increase the accuracy of clinical test results,” says James Liggins, CEO of CRI. “They are designed to emphasize continuous good laboratory practices that enable labs to meet or exceed current regulatory requirements.”
Liggins says the response from labs that have taken advantage of the service to date has been uniformly positive. “Virtually every laboratory that has undergone a preassessment survey has indicated afterwards that they appreciated their educational surveyor’s input on areas where they are not currently in compliance and the educational information provided on how to correct these deficiencies,” he explains. “As a result, we are seeing meaningful reductions in the number of citations when the labs are formally surveyed. And fewer citations translate directly into improved patient care.”
For more information, visit COLA Resources.
