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Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, costing society billions of dollars in health services and lost work time. One tool health care providers have to evaluate cardiac structure and blood flow information is echocardiogram testing. This non-invasive test is one of the gold-standard diagnostic tools for detection and management of many types of heart diseases. Echocardiography uses a complex imaging system, which relies on the experience and training of the cardiologist and sonographer. Their interpretive and technical abilities determine the diagnostic accuracy of an echocardiogram examination. The Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography laboratories (ICAEL) has developed an accreditation program, which evaluates the quality of these and other critical elements of an echocardiography laboratory.
St. Luke's Hospital in Chesterfield, MO was granted accreditation by the ICAEL. The laboratory is one of the first one thousand echocardiography laboratories in the United States, and the second lab in the St. Louis region to be recognized for its commitment to high quality patient care and its provision of quality diagnostic testing.
St. Luke's Hospital is the only lab in the region with 100 percent of the sonographers registered through the American Registry of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers.
The ICAEL was established with the support of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the Society of Pediatric Echocardiography (SOPE) to provide a peer review mechanism to encourage and recognize the provision of quality echocardiographic diagnostic evaluations by a process of voluntary accreditation. A non-profit organization, the ICAEL is dedicated to ensuring high quality patient care and to promoting health care.
Participation in the accreditation process is voluntary. Accreditation status signifies that the facility has been reviewed by an independent agency, which recognizes the laboratory's commitment to quality testing for the diagnosis of heart disease.
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