CLINICAL LAB SCIENEC

CHAPTER 2: LABORATORY PERSONNEL CREDENTIALING AND FACILITY ACCREDITATION 39
accreditations from units that are branches of the COC, such as the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). All of these requirements stem from
an attempt to standardize the training, educational. and clinical components of
a program. This is to ensure that all laboratory workers will possess the same
entry-level assets that have been determined as being important for the level of
skills the workers will be practicing. It is also due to a publicly displayed claim
of protecting the public from unqualified practitioners. The significant number of
professional societies listed in Table 2-3 illustrates the competition that may arise
among agencies that certify competency for laboratory education and training.
The reality is that such a fragmentation of credentialing agencies for medical
laboratory workers will make it difficult to achieve any consistency in the requirements
for credentialing laboratory workers. Even states requiring licensure and
a set of standards for education of laboratory workers may differ from state
to state as to the level of education and training a technician or a technologist
should attain and which programs provide acceptable licensing or credentialing
examination before they deem a laboratory worker qualified or competent.
Certification, Registration, or Licensure of Personnel
While most states do not require personnel licensure, states that do not require personnel
licensure usually require that all laboratory professionals attain some sort
of certification acceptable to the individual states before they may be employed
as laboratory technical workers. Professional credentialing is available through a
number of agencies including the ASCP, American Medical Technologists (AMT),
National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (NCA), American
Association of Bioanalysts, and other lesser known credentialing bodies. Hospitals
Table 2-3 Partial List of Agencies for Credentialing Laboratory
Personnel
Acronym
AAB-BOR*
AAMA
ABB
AMT
ASCP
ASPT †
DHHS ‡
ISCLT
NCA
NPA
Title
American Association of Bioanalysts Board of Registry
American Association of Medical Assistants (point-of-care testing only)
American Board of Bioanalysis
American Medical Technologists
American Society for Clinical Pathology
American Society of Phlebotomy Technicians
Department of Health and Human Services
International Society for Clinical Laboratory Technology (now AAB)
National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel (laboratory workers only)
National Phlebotomy Association
NOTE: Not all health care facilities accept credentials from all of these agencies.
*Formerly International Society for Clinical Laboratory Technology (ISCLT).
†
Credentials phlebotomists.
‡
DHHS no longer certifies new laboratory personnel.
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