Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MLO
In the November 2012 MLO magazine there is an intriguing article by Roy Midyett, a hematology supervisor, titled "Empty QC"
Here's how Mr. Midyett defines "Empty QC":
"Empty QC is any nominal QC that does not give techs performing the test any more confidence than they would have without the QC, and has by logic or experience, no influence on the reporting of the test."
Is Mr. Midyett correct? Have our QC procedures become meaningless gestures? More after the jump.
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Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
So here's a Normalized Method Decision chart for a cholesterol method.
Which method would you choose?
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
An interesting question came from one of our readers, about how to interpret certain outliers.
So let's take one example, just two control values, expressed in z-scores. If the low control is -3.1 and the high control is + 2.3, which rule is violated? the 1:3s rule? The R:4s rule? Both?
An answer, after the jump...
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Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Another question coming in from one of our website members:
Could you give me some suggestions on establishing QC ranges for unassayed chem. Controls?
We currently use [Brand X] unassayed chem controls (much less in cost than assayed controls) for some of our chemistry analytes.
For these controls, we are provided a “target mean” and a range.
Occasionally, our established mean (i.e. n=30) for a new lot is outside of the range provided for “target mean” provided by manufacturer.
Could you suggest guidelines for acceptance of lab established means for unassayed controls?
Obviously, I would like to know how far from the “target mean” could the new lab established mean be?
The answer, following the jump...
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Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
"We have a department supervisor that instructs the techs to delete (not omit) qc values outside of three s.d..Is there a specific CLIA rule against this? Where I come from, deleting qc values is wrong."
What do you think? The answer, after the jump...
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Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Abbott Diagnostics is sponsoring a series of Webinars about Quality Control, conveniently scheduled for the Asian market
Register for these webinars at https://www.labexcellence.in [see the webinar descriptions after the jump]
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Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Last month I was fortunate enough to attend the INTERCAL meeting in Lima, Peru, hosted by SIMED.
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Posted by Sten Westgard, MS
Sten Westgard, MS