Quality assurance in the mycobacteriology laboratory. Quality control, quality improvement, and proficiency testing.

In conclusion, the components of QA (QC, QI, and PT) in the mycobacteriology laboratory address not only the accuracy of testing but also provide a measure for the laboratory practices that are necessary to effectively diagnose and control tuberculosis in the community. Given the extremely important role of laboratory testing in the control of tuberculosis, providing rapid diagnosis and determination of susceptibility test results, laboratories should use the recommendations concerning turnaround times as either achievable goals or a measure of whether the laboratory should be performing mycobacteriology tests. We strongly urge laboratories to include their turnaround times for test results and the timeliness of reporting those results in their annual QA program.