NEW YORK (360Dx) – A2LA today said it has provided Clinical Laboratory Improvement Program (CLIP) accreditation to the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense, in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.
The accreditation is the result of a multiday, on-site assessment, conducted by a team of experts that included reviewing laboratory documents, examining technical data and records, evaluating the performance of testing, and interviewing laboratory staff and technical management to determine technical competence specific to the testing requested. The CLIP accreditation program, which is overseen by the US Department of Defense Center for Clinical Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), has requirements that are comparable but not identical to those of Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act (CLIA) accreditation. CLIP requirements may be modified as needed to meet the unique DoD missions, as prescribed in DoD instructions.
DoD can rely on nonprofit accreditation organizations that maintain Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services deemed status recognition to conduct the technical assessments and provisions of accreditation. A2LA, a non-profit, non-governmental accreditation body, holds CMS CLIA deemed status, and International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation recognition.
"The USAMRICD is very excited to stand up to this novel capability within the Department of Defense to clinically verify exposure to chemical threat agents," said Cheri Roseberry, chief of USAMRICD's Quality Management Office. "Especially with the recent world events involving the use of chemical weapons, expanding our efforts to support our nation's warfighters by establishing a high complexity laboratory was an important goal for us."