- Home
- Laboratory Improvement
- News and Updates
- CAP Accreditation Update: COVID-19
CAP Accreditation Update: COVID-19
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) understands the pressures you face with COVID-19. As the situation is fluid, we’d like to share some of the most recent changes that may impact you as a CAP-accredited laboratory:
CAP Secures Remote Work Waiver for Pathologists (during the COVID-19 public health emergency)
An organized advocacy campaign led by the CAP persuaded the federal government to allow pathologists to work remotely. Read more. Under the CLIA regulations, a CLIA license is needed wherever a pathologist is physically sitting when making a primary diagnostic interpretation, whether using telepathology or reading a physical slide. Due to the public health emergency posed by COVID-19 and the urgent need to expand laboratory capacity, the CMS agreed to exercise its enforcement discretion to adopt a temporary policy that will allow pathologists to work remotely under certain conditions.
What this means:
- Under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) enforcement discretion, CMS will now allow pathologists to remotely review and report laboratory data/slides/images.
- With this temporary change, CMS will not require a separate certificate for laboratories that are in a temporary testing site (a location used to perform laboratory testing such as a pathologist’s home) provided that:
- The designated primary site or home base has a current certificate (of registration, compliance or accreditation).
- The scope of work performed falls within the primary site’s certificate.
- The temporary site must comply with other applicable federal and state laws including HIPAA.
- This guidance does not apply to pathologists who have already obtained CLIA certificates for their home or other locations separate from the primary testing site.
Latest on Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Get accreditation updates on the CAP’s COVID-19 page, including:
- Guidance to ensure availability of reliable testing for rapid detection of the agent that causes COVID-19
- Information on inspection delays: CMS suspends most inspections until April 10, 2020
- Updates on self-inspections: CAP grants 30-day extension to all laboratories that have a self-inspection due by May 1, 2020
CAP Responds to Your COVID-19 Questions
As we learn new things daily, and respond to your questions, we are compiling the questions and answers for you. Have a question? Please contact us at accred@cap.org.
We appreciate your dedication and efforts in these difficult days. Thank you for being a CAP-accredited laboratory.