The Keesler Medical Center Laboratory passed the College of American Pathology (CAP) Inspection on Jan. 31 with an EXCELLENT grade of 99.9%, putting them in the top 10% of all accredited laboratories in the world.

CAP equips accredited laboratories with the knowledge, skills and resources to remain up to date and relevant in an evolving healthcare landscape, while ensuring compliance with federal and state laboratory regulations.

The CAP accreditation is considered the “gold standard” and ensures that laboratories maintain accuracy of testing results, while ensuring accurate patient diagnosis.

“We keep everyone held to the highest accountability level because what we do can make the difference between life and death,” said Lt. Col. Felecia Washington, 81st Medical Diagnostic and Therapeutics Squadron, Pathology and Clinical Laboratory flight commander. “We are helping the providers diagnose patients. If there are abnormalities with a patient, it's up to us to detect it, notify the provider, and provide an explanation and or quantification.”

Official CAP inspections occur every two years.  On the opposite year, the 81st MDTS does a self-inspection to ensure they are always ready for “no-notice” inspections.

“We review all of the CAP regulations and answer questions as if we are getting inspected to make sure we are up to date with new regulations and discuss ways to exceed them,” said Washington. “I feel like we did so well because before our initial inspection we already found areas we could improve, and we met as a team to discuss how we would move forward.”

On top of preparing for the CAP inspection, the 81st MDTS was in the middle of transitioning to MHS GENESIS and participated in a MDG Phase 2 inspection the same day.

Phase 2 is the second portion of a new Airman's technical training, where they are learning on-the-job to be a laboratory technician.

The 81st MDTS Airmen scored so well on both the CAP inspection and Phase 2 inspection that the squadron was asked to increase the number of Phase 2 Airmen in both the clinical laboratory and the anatomical pathology laboratory departments.

“I am proud of my team, I want to brag about them wherever I go because this was a lot,” said Washington. “They had to learn MHS Genesis, be ready for self-inspections and our CAP inspection. I pushed them hard and they answered every call and I am overjoyed with my team and what they accomplished.”