The Tarboro Clinic earned accreditation for its echocardiography laboratory tests this month.

The test, an imaging technique that examines the heart's structure and blood flow information, is "useful in the detection and management of many types of heart disease," according to the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Echocardiography Laboratories (ICAEL) of Ellicott City, Md.

Billie Jo Addington, assistant administrator of the Tarboro Clinic, said her agency had a cardiologist accredited by the same organization for the test, before he left five years ago. Now the clinic's current cardiologist, Dr. Kevin Murray, has achieved the milestone.

Participation in the accreditation program is voluntary. "We're doing it for quality purposes" Addington said, as the clinic has continued to offer the service even before its current accreditation was awarded. While the procedure is not currently covered under Medicare, "eventually we feel like Medicare will cover it," she added.

ICAEL said the procedure is "one of the standard diagnostic tools in cardiology with an estimated 10 million echocardiograms performed annually in the United States."

Last October, the Tarboro Clinic also received accreditation for nuclear testing of the heart's function, from the Intersocietal Commission for the Accreditation of Nuclear Medicine Laboratories (ICANL). Addington said this month's accreditation completes that process for the Tarboro Clinic's cardiography laboratory.