Bonner General Health has earned a top rating from CLIA.

BGH Lab performs in all three categories inspected under CLIA’88 — waived testing, moderately complexity testing, and high complexity testing. In addition, the Idaho Bureau of Laboratories conducts a recertification survey of the laboratory every two years. They use CLIA regulatory standards to evaluate every aspect of BGH laboratory functions from the moment the patient’s sample comes in the door to the results reported to the requesting party.

Kudos to Cherie Proctor, Bonner General Health’s laboratory manager, and her associates for receiving a ‘deficiency-free’ rating from the CLIA’s inspector’s survey, said Erin Binnall, community cevelopment manager for Bonner General Health and Foundation.

“This rating means ALL services provided meet or exceed ALL state and federal standards,” said Proctor. “ For our community, our patients and our loved ones receive the highest quality and accurate lab results from the laboratory at Bonner General Health.”

Tthe Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988, revised the Public Health Services Act enacted by Congress in 1944 for federal programs concerning certification and oversight of clinical laboratory testing. Even though Congress passed two subsequent amendments after 1988, CLIA’88 continues as the citation for individual laboratory’s results.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before clinical laboratories can accept human samples for diagnostic testing, they must be certified by their state as well as by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CLIA regulations establish quality standards for laboratory testing performed on specimens from humans, such as blood, body fluid, and tissue, for the purpose of diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease, or assessment of health.

The CLIA inspector visited the BGH lab on Aug. 27 to review and assess the lab’s overall functioning and evaluate its ability to perform quality testing and deliver reliable, accurate results.

The categories included in the audit were:

• Standard Operating Procedures: tests performed, package inserts, supplemental information

- Personnel Records: training, certificates, continuing education, experience, duties/responsibilities, competencies, personnel changes.

- Quality Control Records: corrective actions, statistical limits, maintenance records

- Proficiency Testing: Results, direct printouts, corrective action for unsatisfactory results.