Government Affairs: What does it mean to me?

Extract

When someone asks what ASCLS does for its members, a very typical first response includes a description of the advocacy performed on our behalf. The clinical laboratory profession is a complex net of scientific information that is difficult in and of itself to understand. When the rules and regulations to which the government requires us to adhere are thrown in with the science, the result is a complex governmental system, intermingling with a complex scientific body of knowledge.

As ASCLS members attend a continuing education conference, we enter topic areas with which we are all comfortable, since educational programs tend to be geared towards the scientific aspects of our profession. On the other hand, when someone attends the first Legislative Symposium in Washington, DC, that individual enters a world that very few of our colleagues realize exists, a world focused on the governmental and regulatory issues to which we all adhere but don't often discuss. Acronyms and unfamiliar terminology begin to fly at you. Regardless of whether you know all of these terms or not, they are ones that affect your day-to-day routine.

Clinical laboratory professionals often see ourselves as the guardians of quality. We understand what it takes to ensure precise, accurate test results are obtained. The government, watching over the public it serves, understands that we do have a pivotal role in patient care and, for that reason, takes steps to protect the public. While those writing governmental legislation and regulation attempt to do their best to safeguard…