Research Accreditation
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) became the first community hospital in Pennsylvania to receive full accreditation from the Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs (AAHRPP) in 2009. This accreditation means we are committed to the most comprehensive protection for research participants and the highest quality research.
A not-for-profit association, AAHRPP works with organizations that conduct human research to raise the level of protection for research participants. LVHN is now among more than 250 organizations worldwide that have demonstrated they have built extensive safeguards into every level of their research and surpass the highest state and federal requirements. All major U.S. independent institutional review boards have earned AAHRPP accreditation. Application for accreditation by AAHRPP is voluntary.
We value our patients and their safety. This accreditation gives them the comfort of knowing we voluntarily hold ourselves to the highest standards when it comes to protecting participants in our research studies.
The accreditation application process included an 800-plus-page self-assessment of the health network's research protection program and a three-day site visit that included AAHRPP interviews with our researchers, Institutional Review Board members and senior health network officials.