CLSI and APHL Announce Upcoming Teleconferences for Training and Competence Assessment, Phlebotomy Program Improvement, and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Update.

WAYNE, Pa. -- In 2008, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) embarked on a joint venture to present educational teleconferences to clinical, public health, and veterinary laboratories. Programs, based on current CLSI documents, are intended to help pathologists, managers, supervisors, technologists, and laboratory and quality consultants learn how to optimize use of these documents in their laboratories.

"During 2008, CLSI - APHL presented teleconferences that focused on a number of topics critical to achieving excellence and realizing quality performance in the clinical laboratory," said Cathy Johnson, Education Manager, CLSI. "Our teleconferences offer sessions in areas such as quality management systems, microbiology, and specimen collection, as well as other topics. We have met our goals to increase the knowledge about the content of the CLSI standards and guidelines, and to use our presenters to assist laboratory professionals by providing guidance on how to implement the standards in all types and sizes of laboratories."

Topics of upcoming teleconferences include:

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The 2009 CLSI-APHL Teleconference Series starts with the annual update on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing.

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Register for the upcoming teleconferences at www.aphl.org/clsi08. APHL is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) P.A.C.E.([R]) Program. Participants will be awarded 1.5 contact hours for each successfully completed intermediate-level program. P.A.C.E.([R]) is accepted by all licensure states except Florida. Florida continuing education credit will be offered based on 1.5 hours of instruction.

For additional information on CLSI, to order CLSI documents discussed during the teleconferences, or for further information regarding this release, visit the CLSI website at www.clsi.org or call +610.688.0100.

CLSI, formerly NCCLS, is a global, nonprofit, membership-based organization dedicated to developing standards and guidelines for the health care and medical testing community. CLSI's unique consensus process facilitates the creation of standards and guidelines that are reliable, practical, and achievable for an effective quality system.