ATS Pulmonary Function Laboratory Manual

ATS Pulmonary Function Laboratory Management & Procedure Manual | 3rd Edition

Effective Date: 2014 Version #1

Chapter 1

Introduction and General Information

Introduction The American Thoracic Society (ATS) Committee on Proficiency Standards for Clinical Pulmonary Function Lab- oratories has developed this publication to assist directors and managers in preparing a comprehensive and stan- dardized pulmonary function (PF) laboratory procedure and management manual. Every PF laboratory, physician’s office, clinic, or occupational setting that performs PF tests should prepare a comprehensive procedure manual. It is the Committee’s hope that this document will be adopted by these health care laboratories or offices, thereby improving standardization of how PF tests are performed and how PF laboratories are managed. Accreditation agencies (e.g., The Joint Commission) require written technical and managerial procedures to ensure the highest level of patient care. This publication will help the PF laboratories and offices meet these requirements. The specific objectives of this publication are: ( 1 ) to provide each laboratory with valuable information from the literature and previously written guidelines, ( 2 ) to improve the technical and procedural quality of lung function testing, ( 3 ) to assist departments in meeting requirements of the Joint Commission and other accreditation agen- cies, and ( 4 ) to assist directors and managers in preparing a useful procedure manual. The publication is divided into chapters, each detailing management issues or specific test procedures. The mate- rial in each chapter is based on previously written guidelines and standardization statements. When such guidelines are not available, the material is extracted from important and pertinent publications. The publication is designed to be generic, and individual laboratories may modify the procedures to fit their style and circumstances. Every attempt has been made to make the individual chapters as complete as possible; however, there may well be a need to add certain specific information for an individual laboratory. This manual will be reviewed and updated periodically. We encourage comments and suggestions and ask that you send them to:

American Thoracic Society 25 Broadway—18 th Floor New York, New York 10004 Attn: Barbara Horner bhorner@thoracic.org

This chapter provides general guidelines for preparing the manual including: ( 1 ) design, ( 2 ) style, ( 3 ) format for technical procedures, ( 4 ) handling of reviews and updates, and ( 5 ) a glossary of terms and abbreviations.

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