Caribbean Genetics (CARIGEN) laboratory at the University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences Complex, Mona became the first and only laboratory in Jamaica to receive accreditation from the College of American Pathologists (CAP), the leading accreditation organization of pathology and laboratory medicine on 14/2/2020. This effectively makes us the only internationally recognized molecular diagnostic laboratory in Jamaica and the Caribbean and means that all the results issued by our laboratory are accepted by the medical community across the globe.

The College of American Pathologists (CAP) is the world’s largest organization of board-certified pathologists, with a mission to ensure that there is excellence in how pathology and laboratory medicine is practiced around the world. Under deemed authority by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the CAP has spent over 70 years promoting excellence in laboratories and advancing the practice of pathology and laboratory science. and has led the way to meet new challenges that result in better patient outcomes.

The College of American Pathologists (CAP’s) Laboratory Accreditation Program accredits the entire spectrum of laboratory test disciplines with the most scientifically rigorous customized checklist requirements.   They are designed to not only cover regulatory compliance requirements but to also assist laboratories in achieving the highest standards of excellence for positively impacting patient care.    CAP accreditation is also recognized by The Joint Commission and can be used to meet many USA state certification requirements. The CAP currently accredits more than 8000 laboratories of which approximately 437 are international.

Carigen participates in several proficiency programs each year in all our applications as we strive to maintain the highest possible standards in each industry that we support. All our methodologies are fully validated as required by the CAP.

We adhere to standards which guide the competency of our analysts, the quality of the work done in our facility, our processes and workflow, our testing environment, the accuracy of our results and the confidentiality and security of our client data. Our expertise is unsurpassed as we adhere to all the chain of custody procedures as required by the industry. The strict requirements of the forensic industry has been beneficial and transferred to all other industries that we support.

Proficiency testing is a determination of the performance of the facility based on inter laboratory comparisons of testing material. Carigen performs annually Proficiency Testing (PT) testing of all its analysts though programs administered through the following agencies:

College of American Pathologists (CAP)

Quality Control for Molecular Diagnostics (QCMD)

Centre for Disease Control (CDC)

Each of these agencies send specimens several times throughout the year which cover all our services including Paternity, Forensics, STD’s and Infectious disease testing.