Matthew W Rosenbaum1, James G Flood1, Stacy E F Melanson2, Nikola A Baumann3, Mark A Marzinke4, Alex J Rai5, Joshua Hayden6, Alan H B Wu7, Megan Ladror8, Mark S Lifshitz9, Mitchell G Scott10, Octavia M Peck-Palmer11, Raffick Bowen12, Nikolina Babic13, Kimia Sobhani14, Donald Giacherio15, Gregary T Bocsi16, Daniel S Herman17, Ping Wang17, John Toffaletti18, Elizabeth Handel18, Kathleen A Kelly19, Sami Albeiroti19, Sihe Wang20, Melissa Zimmer20, Brandon Driver21, Xin Yi21, Clayton Wilburn21, Kent B Lewandrowski1. 1. Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston. 2. Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA. 3. Department of Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN. 4. Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. 5. Department of Pathology, New York-Presbyterian Columbia, New York, NY. 6. Department of Pathology, New York-Presbyterian Cornell, New York, NY. 7. Department of Pathology, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA. 8. Department of Pathology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL. 9. Department of Pathology, Tisch Hospital, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY. 10. Department of Pathology, Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St Louis, MO. 11. Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA. 12. Department of Pathology, Stanford Health Care, Stanford Hospital, Stanford, CA. 13. Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY. 14. Department of Pathology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 15. Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers, Ann Arbor. 16. Department of Pathology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora. 17. Department of Pathology, Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia. 18. Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC. 19. Department of Pathology, UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA. 20. Department of Pathology, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH. 21. Department of Pathology, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, TX.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: In the United States, minimum standards for quality control (QC) are specified in federal law under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment and its revisions. Beyond meeting this required standard, laboratories have flexibility to determine their overall QC program. METHODS: We surveyed chemistry and immunochemistry QC procedures at 21 clinical laboratories within leading academic medical centers to assess if standardized QC practices exist for chemistry and immunochemistry testing. RESULTS: We observed significant variation and unexpected similarities in practice across laboratories, including QC frequency, cutoffs, number of levels analyzed, and other features. CONCLUSIONS: This variation in practice indicates an opportunity exists to establish an evidence-based approach to QC that can be generalized across institutions.
OBJECTIVES: In the United States, minimum standards for quality control (QC) are specified in federal law under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment and its revisions. Beyond meeting this required standard, laboratories have flexibility to determine their overall QC program. METHODS: We surveyed chemistry and immunochemistry QC procedures at 21 clinical laboratories within leading academic medical centers to assess if standardized QC practices exist for chemistry and immunochemistry testing. RESULTS: We observed significant variation and unexpected similarities in practice across laboratories, including QC frequency, cutoffs, number of levels analyzed, and other features. CONCLUSIONS: This variation in practice indicates an opportunity exists to establish an evidence-based approach to QC that can be generalized across institutions.
Authors: Helen T Michael; Mary B Nabity; C Guillermo Couto; Andreas Moritz; John W Harvey; Dennis B DeNicola; Jeremy M Hammond Journal: Vet Clin Pathol Date: 2022-09 Impact factor: 1.333