Labs Target Deficiencies to Elevate Compliance

By:James E. Liggins, MBA, Program Director

James E. Liggins is the Program Director for the Clinical Laboratory Accreditation program. Prior to joining ACHC in 2022, he was the CEO of LabUniversity, formerly COLA Resources Inc. (CRI). LabUniversity is now a part of ACHC’s education division, ACHCU, and is rebranded as LabU. Under James’ leadership, ACHC continues to support laboratories by building positive, collaborative relationships and improving the quality they deliver for patients.

Posted: December 3, 2025

Clinical laboratories accredited by ACHC are making measurable improvement in performance quality and safety. Data from the new Quality Review edition of Surveyor show a drop in the number of standards noted as deficiencies on at least 15% of the surveys conducted during our latest reporting period.

A comparison of this year’s results with those from 2023, when the same cohort of laboratories was last surveyed, points to consistent advancements. In 2023, 12 standards reached the 15% threshold for inclusion in Surveyor. This year, only seven standards met that criterion. Of these seven, six are repeated from 2023, but in every case, the frequency of citation fell.

Good news

The most challenging standards tend to be consistent year over year across all ACHC Accreditation programs. For clinical laboratories, 06.02.01 Essential Conditions is the most frequently cited standard and marks its third consecutive year at the top.

The good news this year is that this standard shows a 35% drop in frequency from 2023, an indicator that ACHC-accredited laboratories are focusing improvement efforts on tracking, documenting, and maintaining consistent environmental conditions.

New this year

Continuous improvement is woven into all we do at ACHC, including the annual Quality Review edition of Surveyor. In our recent issue, “tips for compliance” under each standard profile are enhanced to address varying levels of accreditation knowledge and experience across your agency. Explore our new Accreditation Nerd categories to see which is best for you. 

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