[Histonet] RE: Histonet Digest, Vol 98, Issue 29

[D'Attilio, Shelley]

Hi all,
Madeleine asked the group to share policies with her.  Madeleine, I would advise you to sit down with your medical director and tell him or her exactly what is going on in the lab.  It is frankly almost unbelievable to me that your medical director did not know about the state of the procedures.  He or she needs to get you some help NOW. I also advise you to finish a couple of simple procedures to document your serious intent and request an extension from CAP.  A schedule of how you will finish your procedures will help CAP grant your extension.

1.  Maintenance procedures for equipment are specific for the equipment you are using.  Check the website of your equipment manufacturer.  Many manufacturers provide their procedures online in an editable format.  Look for "CLSI" procedure or something like that.  Download the procedure and customize it for your own lab.  The account rep for your big equipment might be another source of information.  In addition to a procedure, you need a checklist or other form to document that the maintenance was performed.

2.  The explanations in the CAP checklist are excellent resources for writing procedures.  Often the "Principle/Purpose" section of your procedure can be lifted directly from the CAP checklist.  Download your lab's customized checklist from www.cap.org.

3.  Ask your IHC instrument account rep if the company can send a technical specialist to help you with optimization and validation of your stains so that you can have extra time to work on procedures. 

I will send some procedures to you directly to get you started. I hope that you find them helpful.

Regards,
Shelley D'Attilio MT(ASCP)
Manager, Chemistry, Cytology and Histology
Dept. of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Stormont-Vail HealthCare
Topeka, Kansas


NEED A DOCTOR?  Stormont-Vail's Health Connections can help you find a doctor accepting new patients.  Call (785) 354-5225.

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