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To
allow the ICANL to continue offering the most efficient accreditation
services to applicant laboratories, a study of the current site
visit policy was recently conducted by the ICANL Site Visit
Committee.
Currently,
as part of the accreditation process, the ICANL conducts an
onsite visit to every applicant laboratory that submits an application
for accreditation. Historically the mandatory site visit component
was incorporated at the time the American College of Nuclear
Physicians/Society of Nuclear Medicine accreditation program
was merged with the ICANL program, in 2000. The Committee was
specifically charged with exploring the relative value that
site visits bring to the accreditation process and assessing
the occurrence of incidences in which an accreditation decision
is changed based solely on the site visit, versus the accreditation
application itself.
Following
its thorough review, the Committee concluded that while site
visits are a valuable tool for the applicant laboratories in
understanding their compliance with the ICANL Standards
and demonstrating accordance with radiation safety issues, the
visits themselves rarely contradict the findings of the application
reviewers.
Responding
to this insightful information, the ICANL Board of Directors
recently adopted a new policy to make the site visit component
of the application process more efficient. Beginning with
the July 2, 2007 application deadline, the ICANL will randomly
select a statistically valid percentage of the applications
received each quarter and require only that select group
to undergo a site visit. The process for setting up the
site visit will continue as currently in place, with the laboratory
being contacted in advance by the ICANL site visitor to select
a mutually agreeable date.
As
the information reviewed during the site visit continues to
be considered a critical component of the accreditation process,
the applicant laboratories not selected for the site visit
will instead be required to submit relative policies and documentation.
Details regarding the information needed for this audit will
be requested in a separate mailing by the ICANL. The submitted
documentation will be reviewed by the ICANL and will contribute
to the accreditation decision. Failure by the laboratory to
provide the ICANL with the documentation within 45 days of such
request during the accreditation review process will result
in postponement of the accreditation decision.
Questions
about this new policy should be directed to the ICANL at 800-838-2110
or by email, using the online
staff directory published at www.icanl.org.
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