CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

34
ESSENTIALS OF CLINICAL LABORATORY SCIENCE
or registered, depending on the field in which the personnel are employed. Professional
agencies exist for all medical professions, and they provide for some sort
of evidence, usually by examination, that the various individuals have achieved
a certain level of competence. Such documentation serves as evidence that the
professional has met certain requirements to protect the public. This is a form of
self-policing where the public can be assured that the accredited medical institution
is examining the credentials for all workers at a health care facility.
Facility accreditation is entirely different from the certification of personnel
due to the scope of services in a complex health care facility, which covers all
aspects of the operation of the entire institution that is staffed by multiple professional
employees performing in a wide range of departments. However, there
are some parallels and some blurring of distinction between personnel licensure
or registry and facility licensure or accreditation due to similar standards.
Accreditation of facilities and educational programs is a voluntary act certifying
adherence to certain standards espoused by the various accreditation bodies.
Although the accreditation process is “voluntary,” the programs and facilities
are not allowed in many cases to enjoy certain privileges and rights unless
they “voluntarily” choose to become accredited. So, in some instances, the voluntary
process of becoming accredited may be in essence an involuntary act.
Most professionals in the health care field must personally hold certain credentials
regardless of any other factors in effect such as overall accreditation of
the facility. Typically, if professional agency standards are more stringent, for
instance, than state personnel licensure, the stronger of the two sets of standards
may take precedence. All of these categories of credentialing are similar in scope,
with the exception of personnel licensure, which is most often mandated by the
state government. For instance, some states have laboratory licensure but not
personnel licensure for laboratory workers. These states may require that laboratory
workers be formally certified to work in the licensed laboratory as one of
the requirements leading to licensure of the laboratory. This would accomplish
the same results as would personnel licensure.
Medical laboratory educational programs may operate under several facilitywide
accreditation offices because the program includes clinical practice most
commonly in a hospital laboratory, while the education portion of the program
occurs on a college campus. The major accreditation body for facilities such
as hospitals is The Joint Commission (TJC; formerly the Joint Commission on
Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations [JCAHO]). This major accrediting
body covers all of the departments and areas of hospitals that are accredited by
TJC. Hospitals other than federal facilities most often require state licensure in
addition to accreditation. As a further restriction, new hospitals can exist only
after receiving a Certificate of Need from the appropriate government office,
meaning that a survey was performed with an identified need for the facility
before it is allowed to be built.
Educational Program Accreditation
Educational programs are also separately accredited as a type of facility accreditation.
The agency responsible for the accreditation of most of the medical
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