Assessments and milestones work together to help users and managers track key steps in the accreditation process. When thoughtfully planned, assessments plus milestones will create a unified calendar and to-do list for accreditation-related tasks.

In AB Manager, an assessment is any recurring process with pre-determined steps (or milestones). Since in real assessment practice ‘due dates’ do not always fit a predictable pattern. assessment ‘target dates’ can be thought of as providing a general sequence and to-do list.

Assessments are especially useful for tracking critical processes that recur on a set frequency across all laboratories. For example, annual laboratory renewals and biennial on-site audits can be easily tracked and managed using the assessments module.

See the ‘Setup/Assessment Types & Milestones‘ section of the knowledge base for more information.

Preparation & Planning

Assessment types should be set up to reflect the specific workflow of your organization. Assessment types can be thought of as different train tracks that run parallel to each other. Assessment types may, or may not, share some of the same milestones.

In preparation for setting up assessment types and milestones, the AB should carefully consider and write down the key recurring processes they would like to track and the associated steps or milestones. Because each assessment + milestone will create an item on the ‘to-do’ list, we recommend keeping the milestone lists as simple as possible.

For example, an AB may run annual renewals and on-site audits on two parallel tracks:

Example Type 1 – Annual Renewal

For the annual renewal process, the AB may identify the following milestones:

1. Send renewal letter, scope, and invoice (5 months ahead of due date)
2. Receive application and payment from lab (4 months ahead)
3. Review application, PT, etc. (3 months ahead)
4. Adjust approved parameters as needed (2 months ahead)
5. Complete manager review (1 month ahead)
6. Send new certificate & scope (0 months ahead)

Example Type 2 – On-site Assessment

At the same time, each laboratory might require an on-site assessment every 2 years. For on-site assessments, the milestones might be:

1. Schedule on-site audit and request docs (6 months ahead)
2. Receive QA Plan and SOPs from laboratory (5 months ahead)
3. Conduct on-site audit (4 months ahead)
4. Send audit findings to lab (3 months ahead)
5. Receive and approve lab corrective actions (2 months ahead)
6. Adjust approved parameters as needed (2 months ahead)
7. Complete manager review (1 month ahead)
8. Send new certificate & scope (0 months ahead)

Milestones Tab

Once identified, individual milestones are added to the milestones tab. Each milestone has a name and sequence. Optionally, the AB can assign one person to be responsible for that task.

Assessment Types Tab

Assessment types can be added in the Assessment Types tab. Each assessment type has a name, description, and a default repeat frequency (in months).

Individual milestones can now be added to each assessment type. Available milestones are on the left and selecte/used milestones are on the right.