October 2006

Dr. Westgard recently attended the CALIDAB conference in Argentina. Here are a few highlights.

Dr. Westgard speaks before a crowd of 500 attendees at the CALILAB conference

A word from Dr. Westgard

In August, I had the pleasure of attending the CALILAB Congress in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was a quick trip, but very rewarding! It was amazing to meet so many laboratory scientists who are interested in learning more about quality and how it can be managed.

The gracious hosts for my trip (from left to right): Carlos Penelas (Director, Biodiagnostico), Jeff Larson (QC Specialist, Bio-Rad), Dr. Mazziota (Calilab organizer), Dr. Laura Mercapide (Technical Director, Biodiagnostico), Dr. Westgard, and Dr. Octavio Zendejas (General Manager, Bio-Rad Latin America)

I promised that to provide some background references to supplement my presentation. Here are some important sources of information on our website:

• The issue of current test quality is presented in the introductory essay on Quality in Laboratory Testing Today, part I.
• Background on the application of Six Sigma Quality Management can be found in several lessons, e.g., Six Sigma Quality Management and Desirable Laboratory Precision; Six Sigma Quality Design and Control Processes; note that there is a whole section of Six Sigma lessons.
• A good summary of the application of Six Sigma to the selection of QC procedures can be found in our CLIA section, particularly Appropriate QC Procedures.
• Some details of the recent GAO report on Laboratory Quality in the US are discussed in The GAO Report Recommendations. The GAO noted that proficiency testing (PT) data was one of the objective measures of lab quality that would be useful for assessing quality today. However, their only assessment was based on the number of PT failures, which are estimated at about 7 to 8%.
• Our own examination of PT data makes use of sigma-metrics to assess quality. The methodology for estimating sigma-metrics from EQA or PT data
• Results of this assessment the quality of laboratory testing today are provided for cholesterol, calcium, prothrombin time and INR.
• A detailed discussion of glycated hemoglobin and the national guidelines in the US.
• The implementation of quality-planning models using a PC program called EZ Rules 3.

Dr. Mercapide, Dr. Westgard, and Dr. Nilda Fink (CALILAB coordinator)	Dr. Westgard in interviewed by two regional Diagnostic Journals.

Again, many thanks to my hosts and the attentive audience.

James O. Westgard, PhD, is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School, Madison. He also is president of Westgard QC, Inc., (Madison, Wis.) which provides tools, technology, and training for laboratory quality management.