WHAT'S NEW of 2002?WHAT'S NEW of 2002?A MOMENTOUS HAPPENING - CLIA CLEARANCE OF A NEW WAY TO DO QC!
A new QC technology has been cleared that REPLACES THE USE OF EXTERNAL CONTROLS. How did this happen? A manufacturer submitted a claim for this new QC technology AND provided the documentation to defend that claim. Read all about it!
http://www.westgard.com/essay47.htm
WHERE IN THE WORLD WILL WESTGARD BE?
Dublin, Lisbon, New Orleans, Antwerp...these are just a few of the cities Dr. Westgard will be visiting in the next few months. See if Dr. Westgard is speaking at a conference or workshop near you.
http://www.westgard.com/upcoming.htm
ANNOUNCING WESTGARD CONSULTING SERVICES
Maybe you didn't know this: For over a decade, Westgard QC has offered consulting services, training solutions, oem products, and embeddable qc engines to the major diagnostic and laboratory corporations of the world. Some of the world's biggest healthcare companies have used Westgard consulting services for their strategic projects. If you haven't seen what we have to offer, we invite you to take a look:
Consulting: http://www.westgard.com/consulting.html
Training: http://www.westgard.com/training.html
OEM: http://www.westgard.com/oem.html
Embedded QC: http://www.westgard.com/qcengines.html
A COMPARISON OF WESTGARD SOFTWARE
EZ Runs™, EZ Rules™, QC Validator®: Westgard QC has introduced three distinct QC software packages for QC Design and for QC Implementation. How do they match up? What features does each package have? And which one is right for you?
http://www.westgard.com/featuregrid.html
EZ RUNS™ AND INSTRUMENT MANAGER™
How can you import data directly into the world's most advanced QC program from hundreds of instruments? With the powerful combination of Instrument Manager™ and EZ Runs™.
http://www.westgard.com/ezrunsandim.html
Westgard QC, Inc., is proud to announce the release of our latest software:
ISBN 1-886958-18-1; List price: $1495; with Ingrated EZ Rules™: $1995 (See below for special offer)
EZ Runs™ is the next generation of QC charting software, cutting edge features combined with unparalleled ease of use.
View programs screens, download pdfs and demos, check out features, requirements, and more…
EZ Runs™ gives you QC Charting features no one else can offer:
- THE BEST "WESTGARD RULES": EZ Runs™ has the largest library of control rules with documented performance characteristics. Other programs give you rules with unknown capabilities and illogical combinations; EZ Runs™ gives you only the most optimized, efficient control rules for your tests.
- COMPLETE FLEXIBILITY IN SETTING CONTROL LIMITS: use labeled means and SDs, assign your own, or let EZ Runs™ calculate them for you, using data from fixed intervals, moving intervals, or cumulative-to-dates. You have total control over your mean and SD.
- MULTIRULE, MULTILEVEL, MULTISTAGE QC: For your hardest-to-QC methods, use multiple control rules and implement them as needed. Only EZ Runs™ lets you switch between QC designs at will.
- AUTOMATIC QC SELECTION: With Integrated EZ Rules™, you can automatically select the optimum QC designs for your methods. EZ Runs™ and EZ Rules™ provide a one-two punch for optimizing you laboratory processes.
- SPECIAL DATA CALCULATIONS: EZ Runs™ can perform logarithm transforms, proporational transforms, regression transforms, and signal/cutoff ratios. Select whatever you need for your specialized testing.
- AN OPEN SYSTEM: EZ Runs™ is not tied to any control products, to any manufacturer, to any system. You can enter data for any test, any method, any control, any system.
- AND SO MUCH MORE... This list touches on just a few of the great new features of EZ Runs™. See http://www.westgard.com/ezruns.html to see them all: Download the Program Manual. View/Download an interactive Shockwave Demo. See Program Screens. All at the EZ Runs™ homepage.
Enron, Arthur Andersen,Worldcom, the list goes on and on. Corporate scandals have swept the nation. Executives have been cooking the books and playing with the numbers. Are we in the laboratory immune? Or have we been playing with our numbers, too? Dr. Westgard examines some of the current laboratory practices, including guidelines recently published, to see if the numbers add up.
We recently received a set of data for a chemistry analyzer. While the laboratory wishes to remain anonymous, they have given us an eye-opening glimpse of real-world performance. On some tests, there were Sigma-metrics higher than 20! And yet on one test, the Sigma metric was actually below 1.0!! See which tests were good, which ones were great, and which ones were just plain ugly.
We are fortunate to have an interview with two Six Sigma practitioners. Recently, the Charleston Area Medical Center in West Virginia embraced Six Sigma. Shannon Roberts, MBB and Melda Brown, BB in training, are some of the people bringing better quality to healthcare. Ms. Brown has been extremely generous in allowing us a glimpse of Six Sigma as it is being implemented.
Melda Brown, BB in training, graciously allows us to present the results (so far) of her Six Sigma project. See how a real Black Belt Defines the problem and Measures the performance.
Westgard QC will be on the exhibition floor in Orlando at the annual AACC/ASCLS meeting. Drop by to enter our raffle for free "Westgard" wear (books, bags, and shirts), talk with the experts on quality, and see the public demonstration of the future of QC charting: EZ Runs™.
That was the oft-heard refrain at Westgard Workshops 2002.
For those of you who weren't able to attend the workshops,
this has pictures of what we did, quotes from those who came, and some observations from Dr. Westgard on why these workshops are so important and so successful.
WARNING! You may not want to read this article. It's a sobering list of all the common mistakes made by manufacturers, software developers, and laboratories when they design, implement and interpret the "Westgard Rules." As it turns out, when your software or instrument or LIS claims to have "Westgard Rules," it might not be true or even useful. And when someone claims to have "modified" the rules to make them better, be very afraid…
So we've catalogued some of the worst abuses of "Westgard Rules." What about the best uses? What's the best way to use "Westgard Rules"? When's the best time to use them? What are the best reasons why to use them? What's the best method of implementing them? Who are the best candidates (methods, personnel, instrumentation, software) to implement them? Dr. Westgard tells all.
Recently, there has been a lot of interest in the high sensitivity C-reactive test (hs-CRP). Published studies have shown a correlation of elevated baseline values with a higher risk of future cardiovascular events. In this article, Dr. Westgard looks at the test from a quality requirement perspective.
Westgard QC, Inc., is proud to announce the publication of BASIC QC PRACTICES, SECOND EDITION. ( ISBN 1-886958-17-3 2002, 340 pages ) by James O. Westgard, with contributions from David Plaut, Scientific Specialist; Sharon S. Ehrmeyer, Ph.D. ; Elsa F. Quam, BS MT(ASCP); Patricia L. Barry, BS MT(ASCP); and Bernard E. Statland, MD, Ph.D.
For a limited time you can save 25% off the list price - order it online for only $45.00!
WHAT'S NEW IN BASIC QC PRACTICES, SECOND EDITION: REVISED, UPDATED, and EXPANDED!
- 8 NEW CHAPTERS!
- MORE THAN 100 ADDITIONAL PAGES!
- OVER 120 CHARTS, GRAPHS, TABLES & ILLUSTRATIONS!
Thousands of laboratory professionals made the first edition of Basic QC Practices their standard reference. We've heard stories of people fighting over copies of this book, of diagnostic technical reps having to give up their personal copies to customers during onsite instrument installations, of copies mysteriously "disappearing" from laboratory and library shelves.
NEW TOPICS ADDRESSED:
- Point-of-Care Testing and Physician Office Laboratory QC
- Electronic QC and the Total Testing Process
- External Quality Assessment: Peer Comparison and Proficiency Testing
- Software Tools for QC Design
- Software Tools for QC Implementation
- The "State of the Art" of QC
- The future of laboratory QC
Now more than ever, Basic QC Practices sets the standard for learning Quality Control. This concise and comprehensive introduction to QC is an essential reference for healthcare pratictioners who want to implement and operate valid test procedures.
And Basic QC Practices is still the best manual for those seeking to learn the core laboratory skills:
- Construct Levey-Jennings control charts with appropriate control limits
- Plot control measurements on charts and interpret them correctly
- Learn the "Westgard Rules" and how to interpret data with them
- Identify key QC regulatory & accreditation requirements.
- Select appropriate control materials
- Respond correctly to out-of-control signals
FREE
DOWNLOAD: You can download the
Table of Contents, Forewords, Author's Note, and Chapter 1 of
this book:
FEATURED IN THE "QC ISSUES AND ANSWERS" WORKSHOP:
The first public presentation of the new edition will be on May 20th in Madison, WI.
4 of the 5 authors will make up the Expert Panel to take your questions and concerns.
FIRST EDITION STILL AVAILABLE (ON SALE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST):
For those of you who still prefer the first edition of Basic QC Practices, you can get the manual for the rock-bottom price of only $25 - that's over 50% off - while supplies of the first edition remain. The first edition is still a wonderful QC resource, and this special is a great way to get more copies into the hands of your staff.
Why not Evidence-Based Method Specifications for Diabetes Lab Tests?
In the March issue of Clin Chem, the NACB published a 36 page report about the use of laboratory tests for patients with diabetes. It's probably the longest paper ever published by Clin Chem. Dr. Westgard examines the "evidence-based" recommendations, though, and finds some poor Sigma values.
The following QC applications make use of the data reported in the Clin Chem paper on the use of laboratory tests for patients with diabetes.
CHOOSING QC FOR GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN
SETTING METHOD SPECIFICATIONS FOR GLYCATED HEMOGLOBIN
NEW REVIEW OF EZ RULES™ IN CLIN CHEM Clin Chem 48, No.3 2002 reviews our EZ Rules™ software.
CLIA, JCAHO, CAP REGULATION UPDATE
This festival of acronyms can only mean one thing: Dr. Sharon Ehrmeyer, our highly esteemed and frequent contributor, is updating us on the latest in quality regulations. See the latest rules you need to know.
http://www.westgard.com/guest22.htm
Our Expert Panel for the "QC Issues and Answers" is now finalized:
- David S. Plaut, Scientific Specialist -- over 30 years of experience, a well-known speaker at local and regional conferences. The only speaker in clinical chemistry with his own "groupies."
- Elsa F. Quam BS, MT(ASCP) and
- Patricia L. Barry BS, MT(ASCP) -- Quality Specialists from the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, with vast "bench-level" experience in implementing Quality Control.
- Sharon S. Ehrmeyer, Ph.D. MT(ASCP) -- internationally known expert on regulations, guidelines, and professional practices.
This expert panel (all contributors to the upcoming second edition of Basic QC Practices) will take your questions at the "QC Issues and Answers" workshop on May 20th. Their combined expertise covers nearly every possible topic in the field of laboratory healthcare and quality control. Don't miss your chance to meet them and ask your "were-afraid-to-ask" questions about QC.
REGISTER FOR WESTGARD WORKSHOPS 2002:
QC Issues and Answers May 20, 2002 and
Six Sigma Quality Design and Control, May 21-22,
2002
Seats are filling fast! Dr. Westgard and other experts teach you the basics of QC and go on to
explain the most advanced techniques - in only three days.
Seating is limited, so reserve your place soon. http://www.westgard.com/workshops.html
As we watch the unfolding Enron scandal, it's tempting to believe that those terrible practices could never happen in healthcare. Alas, Dr. Westgard has examined the facts of the Enron case and has seen the image of our healthcare industry. We have too much Enron in our laboratories, our institutions, our regulators, our control and diagnostics manufacturers, even in our professional standards. Read this essay to see what we can learn -- and unlearn -- from the Enron scandal.
http://www.westgard.com/essay43.htm
$AVING THE COST$ OF POOR QUALITY
Contrary to popular business belief, there are ways to improve quality and save money at the same time. Six Sigma is founded on that core philosophy. But where are the savings in the laboratory? Here's a hard fact: poor QC practices are wasting money in your laboratory RIGHT NOW. Dr. Westgard shows how to identify, quantify, and eliminate the wasted time, effort, and resources spent on repeat runs, repeated controls, and poor patient care. Six Sigma Cost Worksheets are included and can be downloaded.
TECHNOLOGY FOR IMPLEMENTING QC RIGHT
What kind of software is available for Quality Control? Is the software you get for "free" up to the job?
Dr. Westgard provides a cogent survey of what's available in today's market. He also highlights what features are important in a QC program, as well as the features that still need to be offered.
Dr. Carmen Ricos and her colleagues have provided us with an update to their 2000 Biological Variation Database. New analytes have been added, figures have been updated and in some cases, corrected. See the desirable specifications for total error, bias, and imprecision (derived from biological variation) for hundreds of analytes.
http://www.westgard.com/guest21.htm (update summary)
http://www.westgard.com/guest17.htm (the original essay)
http://www.westgard.com/biodatabase1.htm (the numbers!)
http://www.westgard.com/biodatabase2.htm (the analyte references)
http://www.westgard.com/biodatabase3.htm (the complete reference list)
REGISTER FOR WESTGARD WORKSHOPS 2002:
QC Issues and Answers May 20, 2002 and
Six Sigma Quality Design and Control, May 21-22,
2002
Seats are filling fast! Dr. Westgard and other experts teach you the basics of QC and go on to
explain the most advanced techniques - in only three days.
Seating is limited, so reserve your place soon. http://www.westgard.com/workshops.html
For all the news that was 2001,
follow this link. We put up so many essays,
lessons, etc., last year, and we're proud of the response. Our
website has grown now to over 5,000 visitors a month. We
hope you keep coming back for more.
