Physician Office Laboratory Topics

Waived Testing Update -- Recommendations made by the Department of Health and Human (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in 2001 to fix vulnerabilities of waived testing.

Tips on Waived Testing -- Including a quiz on waived and PPM labs and a checklist for waived/PPM testing compliance.

CLIA and Quality Assurance -- In the laboratory, quality assurance involves the entire testing process: pre-analytical, analytical (testing) and post-analytical processes.

Quality Control Requirements -- Each lab must establish and follow written quality control procedures designed to monitor and evaluate the quality of the testing process for each method to assure accurate and reliable patient test results.

Preparing a Procedure Manual -- A well-prepared procedure manual provides a foundation for the lab’s quality assurance program.

Preparing for an Inspection -- As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

CLIA Inspections -- All laboratories issued a CLIA certificate and all CLIA-exempt laboratories must comply with the applicable inspection requirements.