The Department of Trade and Industry – Philippine Accreditation Bureau (DTI-PAB) continues its webinar series on accreditation for health and social care on November 26, 2020 via Zoom platform. The goal is to help medical testing laboratories understand the importance and benefits of ISO 15189 accreditation and hopefully motivate laboratories to be accredited by PAB. The online sessions started in July through August, September, and October respectively. DTI-PAB perseveres through these briefing sessions to assist the healthcare industry in providing reliable and valid test results.
The half-day online event was facilitated by speakers from DTI-PAB. Ms. Japhet T. Celis, one of the promotions officers of Promotion and Documentation Division (PDD), highlighted that accreditation, promotes excellence in health and social care in her presentation on “Health and Social Care Excellence Through Accreditation”. She cited that accreditation adds a layer of quality assurance to ensure that people received high quality, reliable, and consistent services delivered by competent staff who are working in a safe environment. As one of the assessors for ISO 15189 standard, Ms. Celis emphasized in her presentation that the role of accreditation ensures consistent high level of care and it enhances the acceptance of test results.
Reliable results of medical laboratories conducting tests to detect causes of different diseases such as the COVID-19 virus are essential in the management of the symptoms or illnesses. It is evident that quality and accuracy of laboratory test results provide essential contribution to the diagnosis, care and therapeutic monitoring of highly infectious diseases. Therefore, embracing quality care through accreditation is vital.
Another speaker from DTI-PAB, a licensed chemist and Officer-in-Charge of the Laboratory Accreditation Division (LAD), Mr. Marlon A. Macadamia presented the “Overview of ISO 15189” (international standard that specifies the requirements for quality and competence in medical laboratories). He stressed that accreditation provides reliability, confidence, and integrity, mandating the laboratory to provide accurate results according to its accredited scope.
The ISO 15189 standard encourages full involvement and utilization of the abilities of employees at all levels to improve the organization. In a laboratory accredited to ISO 15189, the goal is to pursue continual improvement and establish consistency of operations involving all staff members. In the past webinars with the same theme conducted by DTI-PAB-PDD, the discussion of the Overview of the ISO 15189 served as a sneak peek for medical laboratories before the detailed discussion of the management and technical requirements of the standard.
The COVID-19 pandemic has put the healthcare system under immense pressure and stretched its resources beyond its capacity. As a global crisis, it poses a challenge to humanity that has never been experienced before. Through these series of webinars, DTI-PAB-PDD will continue to reach out to medical testing laboratories in bringing awareness to accreditation and its benefits especially in these trying times.
By virtue of Executive Order 802, DTI-PAB is the national accreditation body of the Philippines mandated to accredit inspection bodies, certification bodies, testing and calibration laboratories, and other bodies offering conformity assessment services. It also promotes accreditation through conduct of seminars and training on accreditation and the schemes currently offered. As of 30 October 2020, DTI-PAB has accredited a total of 258 conformity assessment bodies (CABs) that include 188 testing laboratories, 46 calibration laboratories, 5 medical laboratories, 8 inspection bodies and 11 certification bodies.
For more information about related news or events and accreditation services, please contact the Philippine Accreditation Bureau at pab@dti.gov.ph or visit www.dti.gov.ph/pab.
Release Date: 17 December 2020