Quality in the Laboratory

By Beverly Arnold, PhD: Quality Manager AVDL

The Georgia Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories are two of only 41 accredited veterinary laboratories in North America. We are accredited by the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians (AAVLD). The goal of the AAVLD is to assist Labs meet or exceed the World Organization for Animal Health Quality Standards and Guidelines for Veterinary Laboratories. Meeting these quality standards requires the effort of every staff member, from the directors and pathologists to the technicians and administrative personnel.

The AAVLD defines quality as “meeting or exceeding customer’s expectations in veterinary diagnostic services.” A quality system adds consistency to the testing processes, leads to reliable quality testing results, and enables laboratories to continually improve their testing facilities. Continuous review of protocols ensures that we use the most effective, accurate and modern methods to test client samples. All pieces of equipment (from pipettes to refrigerators, freezers and centrifuges) are carefully monitored and calibrated to make sure they are working properly and at peak efficiency. Movement of samples through the lab is tracked and monitored to prevent errors and reduce turn-around time without affecting accuracy of results. All individuals who analyze samples attend regular training sessions, attend national continuing education conferences, and undergo proficiency tests to ensure the highest accuracy of results. Our faculty draws on the expertise of each other and specialists throughout the veterinary college to bring you the most precise and correct diagnosis possible.

Why is this important to you? When you have confidence in the accuracy of the laboratory’s test results, value our services, and trust our highly educated faculty and staff, you are more likely to make valid medical decisions regarding your patients. In turn, this gives your clients increased satisfaction with the quality of veterinary health care they receive from you.

We want to continue to provide the best possible services to our clients and you can help us in this process. We send out yearly a client satisfaction survey to see how we are doing. Take time to fill it out and give us your comments, positive and negative. We use the constructive criticisms you provide to improve our client services. If at any time you have a specific problem or if you feel that we could do a better job, please take a minute and let us know. Quality is about continuous improvement, and we are proud of our dedication to providing you and your patients with quality results.

We’re UGA Vet Med, and our

passion powers our commitment.