NCCLS Changes Name to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute

On 1 January 2005, NCCLS officially changed its name, becoming Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). Glen Fine, MT(ASCP), MS, MBA, the organization’s Executive Vice President, explains, "The name change does not represent a shift of our core organizational mission; instead, it better reflects our expanded standards-development activities and global membership base."

Between 1967 and 2005, NCCLS grew into the patient-testing community's leading resource for standardized best practices. By the beginning of 2005, the organization had developed into a truly global body, with over 4,000 of the healthcare world's corporations, governmental bodies, and laboratories counting themselves as members or volunteers, and contributing to the development of consensus documents on topics ranging from Molecular Methods to Automation and Informatics.

So, why change the name, and why now?

Extensive market research found that a name change was imperative for more accurate representation of the organization, on several different fronts:

1. Brand identity studies conducted in 2003 showed that many people were confused by the "N" in the organization's name, which had stood for "national" when NCCLS was known by its full name, National Committee on Clinical Laboratory Standards.
2. With the development of documents on such topics as point-of-care testing and respiratory care, the scope of the organization's work could no longer be accurately defined as the clinical laboratory, but had now become the clinic and the laboratory.
3. With a vast, global member and volunteer base, the term "committee" no longer fairly described the diverse participation and worldwide reach of the organization's consensus process.

Fine states, "Our documents are globally recognized as standards and guidelines for health technologies, so a change to reflect this expanded worldwide role was necessary."

"Our organizational values will remain the same," he adds. "Only our name is changing."

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