Accreditations –
external quality assessment
Since 2018 we are one of the few Histopathology labs in Greece that have got an ISO 15189 accreditation. It concerns the whole operation and the procedures followed by our lab, the safe management of the biological material, the safety and protection of the personal data of our patients (GDPR compliance), the tissue process, the frozen sections, the histochemical and immunohistochemical stains, and the internal and external quality assessment.
The external quality assessment is performed by the independent accredited institution UK NEQAS, and concerns our histochemical and immunohistochemical stains. The latter include the breast cancer markers (hormonal receptors and HER2 expression). This assessment takes place five times per year.
Regarding our diagnostic skills, we participate to the external quality assessment program of the accredited institution “Lab Quality” of Finland. In this program we are asked to give our diagnosis for 6 or 7 cases each time, every year for a different system (lung, breast, gastrointestinal tract, etc.).
safe management of the biological specimen
Each specimen that enters our lab for histological examination is recorded to our information system (called GI-Cell), which has got LIS (Laboratory Information System) software.
Based on the LIS, we issue a label with a unique barcode, which includes the patient’s data (Name, Age, Reference number). Τhis label is adhered on the referral form. Then, and according to this label, all this data is also printed with a special printer on the cassette where the sample is placed for further tissue process. The same data is also printed on each slide that bears tissue sections. Our secretaries, and our doctors have got barcode readers and can easily recall from the referral form to their computer, each case through its unique barcode.
Every step of the procedure of each specimen, from its entry to our lab to the final diagnosis and sending of the results, is recorded in a special log of our information system.
The slides and the tissues of each exam performed in our lab, are stored in our Archive, and preserved there for 10 years, according to the applicable law.
green politics
we care for the environment
Planet earth is our home and we care as much as we can,
so that we do not produce more burden to the environmental pollution with our operation.
– All our toxic and infectious waste materials, ie. the liquids used for tissue process (formalin, ethanol, isopropanol, xylene), and the remaining human tissues, are preserved in an isolated room, inside a special refrigerator, and every month they are removed from the lab, placed in special boxes for burial and destruction by an accredited provider (Sterimed).
The air contained in the system of our ventilation hoses, before is thrown out in the open air, passes through activated carbon filters, so that all dangerous for public health ingredients (formalin, ethanol, isopropanol, xylene) are removed.
These filters are changed frequently.
– We recycle and we reuse ethanol, isopropanol, and xylene, after processing them in a specialized recycler, in order to lessen the environmental burden.
We also recycle paper, plastic, aluminum, batteries, and glass
.
We save energy by using cold lightning lamps with energy efficiency class A, and air conditioning for heating and cooling with the latest inverter technology.