May 29,   2019

The Johnson County Medical Examiner (JCME) Department – in partnership with the Department of Pathology Decedent Care Center - has received full accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME).  NAME is the national professional organization of physician medical examiners, medicolegal death investigators, and death investigation system administrators who collectively perform the official duties of the medicolegal investigation of deaths of public interest in the United States.

Of approximately 3,000 medicolegal death investigation systems in the US, only 86 systems are NAME accredited.

NAME accredited offices represent the highest quality of death investigation systems. The accreditation process consists of a rigorous inspection of the physical facilities, review of office practices, policies, and procedures, and adherence to highest level of individual certification for forensic pathologists and investigators. The accreditation and inspection processes are similar to laboratory accreditation by the College of American Pathologists. There is an on-site inspection and there are several hundred checklist items, phase deficiencies, etc.

The overall objective of accreditation is to ensure that the application of the standards set forth by NAME will aid in developing and maintaining a high caliber medicolegal death investigation system.