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Today's
health care organizations are held to very high levels of accountability
-- by peers, by the general public and by Medicare and other
payers. ICAVL accreditation is a means by which noninvasive
vascular laboratories can evaluate and demonstrate the level
of patient care they provide.
Committed
to balancing the changing needs of both the vascular community
and the general public, the ICAVL was created in 1990 by uniting
physicians, technologists and sonographers from the sponsoring
organizations. The physicians, technologists and sonographers
on the ICAVL Board of Directors composed The Standards, an extensive
document defining the minimal requirements for noninvasive vascular laboratories
to provide high quality care. The Standards are used
by laboratories as both a guideline and the foundation to create
and achieve realistic quality care goals.
ICAVL
accreditation is an educational process, not a pass-fail exam.
The process begins with a comprehensive self-evaluation by laboratory
staff. Completion of the application for accreditation requires
information on all aspects of laboratory operation as well as
the submission of actual case studies for review. After a laboratory
submits the application to the ICAVL, the application undergoes
a confidential peer-review by the ICAVL's trained reviewers,
including physicians, technologists and sonographers, before
a final decision is made by the Board of Directors.
The
ICAVL does not restrict accreditation to the "perfect"
vascular laboratory.
Rather, accreditation is based on a policy of substantial compliance
with The Standards. No laboratory is ever denied accreditation outright. Instead, the ICAVL provides guidance to assist
the laboratory in meeting the requirements of The Standards.
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