LDS Hospital lab gets first Utah accreditation

The LDS Hospital echocardiography laboratory has become the first lab in Utah and one of only 1,000 in the nation to be granted accreditation by the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories.

Accreditation followed an intensive review and examination by the independent commission.

The LDS Hospital echocardiography laboratory performs more than 8,000 procedures a year, more than any other lab in the Intermountain West, according to the hospital.

Echocardiography is a complex imaging technique used to examine the internal structure of the heart, using high-frequency sound waves to form a picture. The noninvasive test has become one of the standard diagnostic tools in cardiology with an estimated 10 million echocardiograms done annually in the United States. The key to high-quality echocardiograms is the experience and training of the physician who interprets the images and the cardiac sonographer who conducts the examination, according to Dr. Donald Lappe, chief of cardiology at LDS Hospital.