Texas Children’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Electrodiagnostic Laboratory has received Laboratory Accreditation with Exemplary status from the American Association of Neuromuscular & Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM). Dr. Suzanne Woodbury is the laboratory’s medical director and said she is very excited to receive AANEM Laboratory Accreditation status.
The AANEM established laboratory accreditation criteria for electrodiagnostic (EDX) laboratories to ensure patients receive quality medical care in a safe environment. Laboratory accreditation provides patients, referral sources, and payers with a credible measure to differentiate the laboratory’s quality of care. The accreditation standards evaluate the diagnostic services and clinical operations essential to providing quality patient care, which include:
- Clinical staff qualifications and continuing education
- Physical facilities
- EDX equipment
- Protocols for performing EDX studies
- Patient reports
- Policies for ensuring the health and safety of every patient
Exemplary Status is the highest level of accreditation an EDX laboratory can achieve under the AANEM Accreditation Program. To be awarded Accreditation with Exemplary Status, physicians performing studies in the laboratory must:
- Have completed a neurology or physical medicine and rehabilitation residency program; and
- Have completed a minimum of three months of training in EDX medicine as part of a residency or fellowship program; and
- Be certified by the American Board of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (ABEM), or by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) in clinical neurophysiology, or by the ABPN/American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in neuromuscular disease.
AANEM is a nonprofit membership association dedicated to the advancement of neuromuscular, musculoskeletal, and electrodiagnostic medicine. For more information about AANEM, or to learn more about laboratory accreditation, visit www.aanem.org.