Post hoc assessment of the relationship among coronary stenosis, electrocardiography, and ventricular function in patients with heart disease.

Cardiovascular diseases including cardiac arrhythmias lead to fatal events in patients with coronary artery disease; however, clinical associations from echocardiography, electrocardiography (ECG), and biomarkers remain unknown. We sought to identify the factors that may be related to elevated QRS intervals in patients with risk for coronary artery disease. In this study, we performed analysis of clinical data from 503 patients divided into two groups, i.

Requirements for accreditation by the College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program.

The College of American Pathologists Laboratory Accreditation Program expects a participant laboratory or laboratory section to be able to demonstrate that it is in compliance with the Standards for Laboratory Accreditation. The program expects laboratories to demonstrate that they are continually taking steps to identify and correct deficient areas and improve performance, in compliance with the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 regulatory requirements, particularly those pertaining to proficiency testing performance, and participating as inspectors in the accreditation process.

Regulatory and accreditation implications of alternate-site laboratory testing.

The expectations of voluntary accrediting organizations and federal regulatory agencies with regard to laboratory performance standards that must be satisfied for alternate-site testing are described. The guidelines and requirements for accreditation of laboratory programs by the College of American Pathologists and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are demonstrated, along with applicable commentary.

Federal regulation of clinical laboratories and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988--Part II.

This is the second of two articles summarizing federal regulation of clinical laboratories and reviewing specific aspects of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA 1988). This article includes a review of sanctions and enforcement, how laboratory inspections are likely to be performed, accreditation of private organizations, state exemptions, cytology and other specialty regulations, and the evolving implementation of CLIA 1988.