Avoiding Delay: Submitting A Complete
Accreditation Agreement

by Cindy Weiland, RRT, RVT
ICAVL Technical Manager

from the Summer 2002 issue

Are you ready to apply for accreditation? Before you send your laboratory's application for review, make sure that you have completed and enclosed a complete, accurate Accreditation Agreement. Of the applications submitted each quarter, more than half contain incorrect Accreditation Agreements. Because the Agreement is a required legal document, we cannot release a final decision regarding the status of your laboratory without it.

Approximately 12 to 15 months prior to your accreditation's expiration date, a reaccreditation notification letter and a new Agreement document will be sent to the attention of the Medical and Technical Directors. Be sure to keep this document on file so that it can be completed and sent when you reapply for accreditation. A newly completed Agreement is required in conjunction with every reaccreditation. The Agreement is on colored paper (yellow) behind its own tab at the beginning of your accreditation binder. The following items should be given particular attention when completing the document:

• The original Agreement document must be submitted.
• Photocopies or scanned computer-altered Agreements will not be accepted.
• Please be certain to answer all questions.
• The Agreement must be appropriately signed and witnessed.
• The only acceptable signatures are those of the Medical Director or an officer of the corporation.
• The Technical Director or another member of the laboratory staff may sign as the witness.
• There is no need to have the signatures notarized.

To avoid any unnecessary delay in notification of, or a lapse in, your accreditation status, please take care to review each page of the Agreement before returning it and the appropriate application fees to the ICAVL.

The primary contact person regarding Accreditation Agreement issues is Nickey Tyndale; however, any ICAVL staff member will be happy to answer questions you may have about the Agreement or any other aspects of the accreditation process. You may contact any of the staff members at 410-872-0100 or via email.

HIPAA Compliance And The Accreditation Agreement

To ensure compliance with the regulations set forth by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the ICAVL Accreditation Agreement now includes an addendum defining the ICAVL as a "business associate" and defining its duties and obligations as such.

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