22nd MDG lab retains national accreditation

Airman 1st Class Andrew Anderson, 22nd Medical Support Squadron laboratory technician at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., prepares blood samples for centrifugation, a process which separates blood into solid and liquid portions. The liquid, also known as serum or plasma, is analyzed for a variety of laboratory tests. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski)

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22nd MDG lab retains national accreditation

According to McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., clinic laboratory personnel, staff members here conduct about 90,000 tests a year to include chemical profiles, blood-cell counts and bacteriological cultures. Tests not performed by McConnell’s laboratory technicians are sent to a network of military and civilian facilities. The facility here is also one of eight Air Force-wide laboratories that hosts a walk-in marrow donor registry program. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski)

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Staff Sgt. Stephanie Vasquez, 22nd Medical Support Squadron laboratory technician, prepares blood samples for a microscopic evaluation at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan. According to clinic laboratory personnel, staff members collect about 1,000 blood samples here a week. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski)

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22nd MDG lab retains national accreditation

Master Sgt. Mike Bouddhara, 184th Intelligence Wing, Kansas Air National Guard, screens a patient sample for strep-throat causing bacteria at the McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., medical clinic laboratory Aug. 26. Lab technicians here identify organisms and parasites using microbiology to classify viruses, test enzyme levels, and they use metabolic chemistry to make sure patients' organs are functioning properly. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Senior Airman Jessica Lockoski)

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22nd MDG lab retains national accreditation

Published Aug. 27, 2009
By Capt. James B. Clark
22nd Medical Support Squadron

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. -- July 7 to 8, the 22nd Medical Group's Clinical Laboratory received an unannounced biennial accreditation inspection from the College of American Pathologists. The CAP is an internationally recognized laboratory accreditation program, which uses teams of laboratory professionals to conduct inspections across global facilities including all permanent military installations. The purpose of inspection is to ensure patient safety and quality laboratory protocols are meeting or exceeding all regulatory requirements.

Team McConnell's inspection was made up of five detailed and focused checklists comprised of more than 1,500 individual items. The checklists which not only assess the overall management and operation of a laboratory, but also serves as a blueprint for all clinical laboratories to follow. The program is designed to help laboratories achieve the highest standards of excellence and ensure successful, high quality patient care.

McConnell Laboratory technicians and members of the medical group's executive staff were asked intricate questions and given complex scenarios regarding laboratory policy and practice. The inspection also targeted the past two years of quality assurance and control records, staff member qualifications, comprehensive instrumentation and facility evaluations, and safety management.

"I've inspected more than 150 laboratories, and this is one of the best run and organized laboratories I have ever inspected," said Bessie Motley, one of the CAP inspectors that performed the evaluation.

The CAP awarded the 22nd MDG Laboratory its reaccreditation Aug. 4 and the lab remaines part of an exclusive group of nearly 7,000 laboratories worldwide that have exceeded the highest standards of excellence.