The International Accreditation Service (IAS) has established a program to accredit medical laboratories that demonstrate compliance with the international standard, ISO 15189, Medical Laboratories – Requirements for quality and competence.
IAS accreditation provides formal, independent verification that a medical laboratory is technically competent to conduct pathological tests within an approved scope of accreditation.
Medical professionals rely on accreditation as evidence to approve and use results from testing for patient care. The accreditation also demonstrates to regulators and users that medical laboratories are also third-party accredited organizations, having appropriate traceability with suitable method validation and/ or verification control processes in place.
IAS Director of Quality and Accreditation Mohan Sabaratnam said the IAS is “pleased to extend its services to provide hospital, medical, and clinical pathology laboratories with a comprehensive and trusted program for assessing and accrediting the technical competence of laboratories.
“In particular, the discipline of medical laboratory service requires assurance and confidence in its test results critical to management of patient care,” Sabaratnam said.
The IAS accreditation process includes an onsite assessment of the laboratory and periodic assessment to ensure continued compliance to international standards, regional, or local regulations. Each medical testing laboratory is assessed by technical experts specifically selected by IAS for their competence in the relevant fields of medical science and technology. Once it has been verified that the laboratory has met the requirements for accreditation, a certificate of accreditation is issued to the laboratory and placed on the IAS website. This public confirmation is testament that the laboratory is suitable for use by medical establishments, manufacturers, regulators and the consumer, whenever requested.
The IAS is a globally recognized accreditation body and operates in accordance with ISO/IEC 17011.