COLA announced that U.S. Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-MD)is the 2013 recipient of the organization’s Perry A. Lambird Memorial Excellence in Medicine Award. This award is bestowed annually on a professional who exemplifies the values and ideals of Dr. Lambird, a COLA founder and leader who was dedicated to improving the quality of laboratory testing.…
Amendment would require certain labs to use one accreditor’s services
On December 4, 2012, President Obama signed into law H. R. 6118 — the Taking Essential Steps for Testing (TEST) Act of 2012. The new law, which passed the U. S. House of Representatives in September and the Senate in November by voice vote, resolves a longstanding unresolved issue with respect to CLIA enforcement –…
Legislation to resolve a longstanding issue with respect to CLIA enforcement – specifically, how federal regulators handle labs that mistakenly refer proficiency test samples(PT) to other labs – has moved forward in both houses of Congress. On September 20, H.R. 6118, the Taking Essential Steps for Testing Act (TEST Act), introduced by Rep. Michael Grimm…
President’s Corner, Summer 2012
It’s 2012…Do You Know Who Your Congressman Is? By Doug Beigel Perhaps you’ve heard the following phrase before: “It’s 11 PM…do you know where your children are?” In light of everything happening in the public policy arena related to healthcare right now, I suggest that a new phrase is in order: “It’s 2012…do you know…
Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD-03) visited the Columbia headquarters of COLA, the largest private accreditor of clinical laboratories in the United States, where he met privately with COLA’s leadership team, including Chief Executive Officer Douglas Beigel, and later with nearly 50 of COLA’s employees in an informal “town hall” forum. Congressman Sarbanes, who chaired the healthcare…
A Time of Uncertainty in Washington
Congressman Michael Burgess, M. D. (R-TX), a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has introduced legislation to create a process through which so-called “Laboratory Developed Tests” (LDTs) would be regulated. The legislation – H.R. 3207, the Modernizing Laboratory Test Standards for Patients Act – would establish a notification and review process at CMS…
COLA has presented the 2011 Perry A. Lambird Memorial Excellence in Medicine Award to Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-7th, MD). Typically bestowed upon distinguished individuals within the medical or lab communities, Cummings is the first public servant to receive it. Rep. Cummings was selected because of his long history of advocating for the rights of all…
