Central Ohio Primary Care Labs receive perfect score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - July 19, 2013 - PRLog -- Central Ohio Primary Care laboratory and draw stations recently received a perfect score on its COLA inspections.  

COLA is a physician-directed organization whose purpose is to promote excellence in laboratory medicine and patient care through a program of voluntary education, consultation, and accreditation. Its services are designed to improve clinical laboratory as a whole. Inspections run on an 18-24 month cycle.

The COLA survey takes a minimum of two days in the lab. An inspector spends that time on site reviewing 25 different areas of operations with a check list of over 300 points of quality.

“This is not an easy task given the size and complexity of our operations,” Laboratory Services Manager, Rebecca Burk said. “A perfect score is affirmation of quality for our staff and others. It is a tangible demonstration of our commitment to quality.”

In addition to COLA, the COPC laboratory and draw stations are inspected by ODH Laboratory Certification Program on behalf of CLIA. All clinical labs must have a CLIA certificate for testing.

“We could just have a CLIA, we pay to go through this COLA accreditation process,” Burk said. “I think (people) like to see that we do not settle for minimum quality guidelines, rather we seek out other ways to assess and ensure our quality.”

COPC also received a perfect score in 2006, earning the “Laboratory Excellence Award,” COLA’s highest commendation.

“Continuous quality assurance is the responsibility of our lab to ensure we are providing quality services,” Burk said. “The process of improving quality, really never stops.”

For more information about Central Ohio Primary Care (http://COPCP.com) Laboratory Services, click here (http://www.copcp.com/health-services/laboratory-services).