Shore Memorial Hospital Department of Laboratory Medicine Receives Accreditation from College of American Pathologists

Shore Memorial Hospital’s Department of Laboratory Medicine has been awarded accreditation by the College of American Pathologists (CAP), a medical society serving more than 17,000 physician members and laboratory communities throughout the world.

Shore Memorial is now one of approximately 7,000 CAP-accredited laboratories nationwide. Dr. Robert Beach, medical director of the Cancer Center at Shore Memorial, acknowledged the accreditation on behalf of department.

“The CAP is deemed by the Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation to inspect laboratories and is one of the first true peer review processes in medicine,” says Dr. Beach. “This is an unannounced inspection by a full inspection team from a comparable hospital utilizing approximately 2,000 standards in various check lists.”

The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program, begun in the early 1960s, is recognized by the federal government as being equal to or more stringent than the government’s own inspection program.

During the CAP accreditation process, inspectors examine the laboratory’s records and quality control of procedures for the preceding two years. CAP inspectors also examine staff qualifications, the laboratory’s equipment, facilities, safety program and record, as well as to the overall management of the laboratory. This stringent inspection program is designed to specifically ensure the highest standard of care for all laboratory patients.