News Release: School of Medicine
Oct. 10, 2008
Emory Reproductive Center Receives Internationally Recognized CAP Accreditation for Labs
The Emory Reproductive Center, located at Emory Crawford Long Hospital (ECLH), has been accredited by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) for its high standards and excellence in laboratory quality assurance. The center received zero deficiencies in its recent inspection.
The CAP Laboratory Accreditation Program is an internationally recognized program designed to go well beyond regulatory compliance. The program provides a solid foundation for quality practices and helps laboratories achieve the highest standards of excellence to positively impact patient care.
"All clinical labs, by law, must be accredited by a federally-approved agency to assure quality and patient safety standards," says Weirong Shang, PhD, HCLD, assistant professor, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Emory University School of Medicine and director of the Embryology and Andrology Laboratories at ECLH. "After having our labs accredited by the Joint Commission for many years, we decided to seek CAP accreditation to be more in alignment with other reproductive laboratories locally and regionally."
CAP is the world's largest association composed exclusively of pathologists and is widely considered the leader in laboratory quality assurance. CAP is an advocate for high--quality and cost--effective medical care. Because its lab inspectors work specifically in the field of pathology, many consider this a more rigorous accreditation process than others.
Reproductive or in vitro fertilization (IVF) labs are inspected on their personnel qualifications, quality control and performance improvement, physical facilities and safety program, as well as the overall management and successful outcome of the laboratories.
"This CAP accreditation means that our patients will receive the highest quality of patient care and services available," says Donna Session, MD, associate professor, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory and medical director of the Emory Reproductive Center. "It acknowledges our commitment to assisting women and their partners in their reproductive journey."
CAP accredited laboratories must be inspected every two years for accreditation renewal.
About the Emory Reproductive Center
The Emory Reproductive Center consistently performs above the national average in IVF success rates and achieving live births. This is significant because the center takes great care to minimize the number of embryos transferred to patients during the IVF process, which reduces the incidence of multiple births.
In 2005, the center exceeded the national average by achieving approximately 59 percent pregnancy rate per cycle, for patients under 35 years of age. This pregnancy rate was higher than average in spite of transferring fewer than the average number of embryos. In women over 35 years old, the pregnancy rate per cycle was 42 percent, which is also above the national average. Since the CDC calculates live birth rates, success rates take two years to calculate (2005 is the most recent reporting year).
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The Robert W. Woodruff Health Sciences Center of Emory University is an academic health science and service center focused on missions of teaching, research, health care and public service. Its components include schools of medicine, nursing, and public health; Yerkes National Primate Research Center; the Emory Winship Cancer Institute; and Emory Healthcare, the largest, most comprehensive health system in Georgia. The Woodruff Health Sciences Center has a $2.3 billion budget, 17,000 employees, 2,300 full-time and 1,900 affiliated faculty, 4,300 students and trainees, and a $4.9 billion economic impact on metro Atlanta.
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