International Benchmarking:
AAALAC International
Accreditation
Kathryn Bayne, MS, PhD, DVM, DACLAM, CAAB
Senior Director & Director of Pacific Rim Activities
Benchmarking (also "best practice benchmarking"
or "process benchmarking") is a process used in
management … in which organizations evaluate
various aspects of their processes in relation to best
practice, usually within their own sector. This then
allows organizations to develop plans on how to
adopt such best practice, usually with the aim of
increasing some aspect of performance.
Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often
treated as a continuous process in which
organizations continually seek to challenge their
practices.
Wikipedia
Benchmarking to Ensure a
Quality Program
 The public’s expectations for science are high
 Public demands for best practices
 Research costs with animals is increasingly a
significant financial consideration for institutions
 Clients want assurances of sound data and
defensible animal welfare
 Animal rights groups want to stop animal use
What Are The Risks of
Not Benchmarking?
 Public relations problems
 Increased cost/loss of innovation
 Erosion of public and community trust
Potential Objectives of
Benchmarking
 Improving organizational performance
 Setting standards for performance
monitoring
 Ensuring appropriate management
controls
Key Elements to Benchmark
 Organizational structure
 Operating procedures
 Oversight (management) considerations
Successfully Using
Benchmarking
 Select a benchmarking system that can be
used to guide performance
 Ensure the data resulting from the
benchmarking process can be
meaningfully translated into action
 Translate benchmarking into methodologies
and techniques that create best practice.
AAALAC International site visit
teams are in a unique position to
benchmark animal care and use
programs
Average of 212 institutions visited
each year for the last 6 years
Standards used:
 National legislation, policy
 Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals (NRC 1996)
 AAALAC International’s Reference
Resources
 Institutional guidelines, policies
Methods to Ensure
Quality Accreditation Assessments
 Composition of the site visit team
 Tailored to the institution
 Limit to the number of times a Council member
may take out a particular ad hoc Consultant
 Maintains diversity of opinion
 Colleagues who share the same experiences
you do in your animal care and use programs
Methods to Ensure
Quality Accreditation Assessments
 Review of the Site Visit Report (including
the post site visit communication from the
institution)
 Pre-meeting electronic review and
comment/discussion
 Council meeting deliberations
Methods to Ensure
Quality Accreditation Assessments
 Review of the letter to the institution
 Post Council meeting review by Council
Officers
 Post Council meeting review by Senior
Director
Over 750 Accredited Units in 29 Countries
800
750
700
Number of
Accredited
Units
650
600
550
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
500
Examples of Program Improvement
Achieved Through Benchmarking
by an Accreditation Process
 Enhancing the level of veterinary care
provided to animals
 Ensuring a sound system of review of animal
use proposals and of the animal program
 Enhancing worker safety
 Providing enrichment to animals
 Reference to the 3Rs
Adequate Veterinary Care
 Number of years of training
 Does this matter?
 Experience
 With the species
 With the procedures (surgery, gavage, etc.)
 Continuing education
 Staying current
 Responsibility and authority
Example: Two Systems
 2 or 4 years posthighschool
 No to limited
experience outside of
the workplace
 Limited authority in
the program
 Euthanize vs. treat
 Well-credentialed
 Often have
experience outside
primary place of
employment
 Role on the AEC
 Good program
authority
Example: For AAALAC
 Appropriate training and experience required
 Good medical records, preventive medicine program,
surveillance program, etc.
 Engaged role in the AEC
 Reviewing protocols, assisting with choice of drugs,
ensuring appropriate housing, etc.
 Viewed as a partner in the research enterprise
 Offers guidance to facilitate research and ensure
animal welfare
Veterinary Care Program
Resources
 FELASA
 Guidelines for the Veterinary Care of
Laboratory Animals
 ACLAM
 Report of the American College of Laboratory
Animal Medicine on Adequate Veterinary
Care in Research, Testing and Teaching
Assessing Institutional Attention to Pain
and Distress?
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Questions in AAALAC’s Program Description
Review of select protocol forms
Look at the animals and their medical records
Review AEC processes
 Program review
 Approval of pilot studies
 Guidelines, institutional policies
AAALAC International Program
Description
 How and by whom are levels of pain
and distress assessed and categorized
 AEC guidelines for avoiding
unnecessary pain or distress
 Agents used for each species
 How veterinarian provides input to
choice and use of drugs
AAALAC International Program
Description (con’t)
 How use of anesthetics and analgesics is
monitored
 Training and experience of personnel
performing anesthesia
 Methods of euthanasia for each species
 Training and experience of personnel
performing euthanasia
Protocol Review Elements
 Consideration of analgesics
 suitability of agent
 dose
 Consideration of adapting animals to
restraint
 Consideration of humane endpoints;
clearly defined experimental endpoint
Commendations
 Consideration of alternatives to painful
procedures
 Methods for postoperative care
 Multi-species environmental enrichment
program
 Training programs
 ...etc.
Concerns Addressed Following
AAALAC Site Visit
 Searches for alternatives to painful or
distressful procedures
 Re-reviewing protocols involving painful
procedures
 Intensifying consideration of analgesic
use during protocol review
Concerns Addressed Following
AAALAC Site Visit
 Improving consistency in the
categorization of studies vis-à-vis pain
and distress (e.g., FCA)
 Instituting procedures for assessing
pain in the postoperative period
 Intensifying review of humane endpoints
during protocol review
Concerns Addressed Following
AAALAC Site Visit
 Emphasizing prevention of pain and
distress during protocol review as well
as during the AEC’s facilities inspection
and program review
Specific Examples
 Murine ascites production
 Guidelines for tail snip procedures
 Use of postoperative analgesics in
rodents
 Prompt reporting of animal health
problems (injury, disease, experimental
outcome)
Benchmarking Through the
AAALAC International
Accreditation Process
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Science-based standards
Flexibility of performance standards
Sensitivity to legal, cultural issues
Cross fertilization through site visits
Highlighting of best practices
Continuous quality assessment process
In Summary….
 Accreditation by AAALAC International is a
valuable and integral component of any
quality assessment benchmarking
program
 Requires an extensive internal review
 Provides a comprehensive external review
 Highlights areas of excellence
 Details a path for ongoing improvements
For more information….
AAALAC International
Pacific Rim Office
68-3549 Makana Aloha Place
Waikoloa, HI 96738
808.883.2186 phone
808.883.1155 fax
kbayne@aaalac.org
www.aaalac.org