Tools, Technologies and Training for Healthcare Laboratories

Advanced QC Strategies

 Westgard QC is proud to announce the latest reference manual, Advanced QC Strategies.

Advanced QC Strategies, 1st Edition

Risk-Based Design for Medical Laboratories

Advanced QC Strategies front coverJames O. Westgard, PhD
Hassan Bayat PhD (CLS)
Sten Westgard, MS

264 pages, 9" by 6" paperback
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022942184
ISBN 1-886958-36-X
ISBN13: 978-1-886958-36-4
Price: $80.00

Download the Preface, Table of Contents, Index and Chapter Excerpts (more than 40 pages!) of this book.

NOW AVAILABLE.
***(Order online with coupon ADVANCEDSAVINGS and save 20%, Offer Expires February 28th, 2024)

TIME TO LEVEL UP YOUR QUALITY CONTROL!

  • BEYOND THE REPEAT - HOW TO DITCH THE WASTE OF DO-OVER QC
  • SYNCHRONIZE YOUR QC TO MINIMIZE PATIENT RISK, NOT THE PLANETARY ROTATION - FROM ONCE A DAY TO WHAT THE PATIENT NEEDS
  • BUILD YOUR OWN PRACTICAL TOOL TO ASSESS SIGMA-METRICS, OPTIMIZE YOUR RUNS, RULES AND FREQUENCY
  • SUPPLEMENT YOUR QC WITH PBRTQC - WHEN MOVING AVERAGES MAKES SENSE
  • MAKING MEASUREMENT UNCERTAINTY MAKE SENSE - WHEN YOU NEED IT, AND WHEN YOU DON'T
  • STANDARDIZING MEANS AND SDS ACROSS INSTRUMENTS AND LABORATORIES - WHAT'S ACCEPTABLE AND WHAT'S DANGEROUS
  • ASSESSING REAGENT LOT-TO-LOT ACCEPTABILITY - HOW MUCH DIFFERENCE IS ALLOWABLE?

Thousands of laboratory professionals have made the Basic QC Practices their standard reference on laboratory quality control. Now it's time to raise the bar, to optimize, to customize, to make QC better than it's ever been before.

In Advanced QC Strategies, Westgard, Bayat and Westgard go beyond the basics, to the higher levels of optimization and customization that today's technology and techniques make possible.

In 21 chapters, Westgard, Bayat and Westgard demonstrate the possibilities of cutting-edge quality control. With their signature wit and unparalleled wisdom, they offer into what sounds like the QC of the future, but is available to enterprising laboratories today:

  • Risk-based QC procedures that optimize rules, runs, and frequency
  • Sage advice on standardizing means and SDs across instruments and laboratories
  • Better ways to assess lot-to-lot reagent differences
  • The promises and perils of Patient-Based Real-Time QC (PBRTQC)
  • ISO 15189, how the global standard for quality control is changing
  • Measurement Uncertainty and Traceability, the MU-vement taking the world by storm
  • Quality Management Systems driven by Six Sigma, Patient Risk, instead of craven compliance

 Laboratories deserve QC practices that maximize efficiency, effectiveness, and good patient care.

It's possible with Advanced QC Strategies.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER PAGE
1. Managing Quality 1
2. Reviewing Current SQC Practice Guidelines 13
3. Developing a Total QC Plan 27
4. Adopting a Sigma-based SQC Planning Process 33
5. Planning SQC Strategies for Bracketed Operation 51
6. Optimizing QC Frequency for Patient Risk
71
7. Preparing Excel QC Frequency Calculators
91
8. Considering Sigma for Multiple Control Levels 101
9. Planning SQC for Multitest Analyzers
109
10. Defining Quality Required for Intended Use
123
11. Assessing Potential Usefulness of PBRTQC
131
12. Upgrading Multirules with Moving Averages
143
13. Re-designing QC Wrongly for the Traceability Era
151
14. Determing MU from QC Data
165
15. Evaluating Repeat:2s QC Practices
177
16. Standardizing Means and SDs for multiple instruments
189
17. Controling Differences between Reagent Lots
197
18. Summing it Up!
205
19. Boiling it Down! 219
20. Preparing for Practical Applications (Worksheets for use) 235
21. A Final Word 255
Index 259

Purchase of the book includes Exclusive access to online content, calculators, supplements and downloads.