External failures as descriptor of quality in clinical microbiology laboratory services.

This study employed customer feedback surveys to assess the quality of the laboratory services provided by an accredited clinical microbiology laboratory. The purpose of the study was to classify external failures and determine the quantity of such errors, and to establish how much time was spent processing and correcting these errors, together with the costs arising. The study indicates that the quality of laboratory test results can be regarded as good based on the accuracy of the result. Customer needs were also well taken into account in practice because of the good quality of the service. However, improvements are required in providing customers with test results without delay. The cost of processing and correcting such errors was negligible. The use of a customer feedback system allows systematic monitoring of external failures. In the accredited laboratory under study, it is unnecessary to monitor continually the costs and working time involved in processing and correcting external failures. The most essential point is to monitor the effects of the quality measures taken to reduce the number of failures.