COLA, a clinical laboratory education and consultation accreditation organization, recently received renewed approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to accredit laboratories to meet requirements set by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.

A government investigation of errors last year led to increased federal requirements and oversight, and to more government scrutiny of survey organizations.

COLA’s accreditation process—approved for six years—is aligned with quality systems methodology and is equivalent to the CLIA 2003 requirements. Some of the new program features for laboratories in 2007 include:

• Revised quality control requirements.
• Increased attention to laboratory information systems.
• New focus on quality assessment activities that span all phase of laboratory testing.
• Incorporation of quality systems methodologies to cytology and histopathology specialties.

“The accreditation renewal comes at a time when there have been many changes in the industry and in federal requirements,” says Max Williams, director of policy and external affairs for COLA. “The renewal validates our commitment to quality patient safety.”

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