Tools, Technologies and Training for Healthcare Laboratories

Is this the End of QC as we know it? And end of EQA and PT, too?

It's 2021, the new year, so of course it's time for someone to suggest a new way to do QC. This time it's the metrologists, and their proposal has a few merits and many more downsides.

What if the Frequency of Changing QC is Zero?

We know how to change QC frequency in a data-driven, evidence-based, patient-risk focused way. But we don't seem to be doing it at all.

Establishing Appropriate Risk-Based QC Frequency

Clinical Laboratory News June 2019 issue had an article about QC Frequency. Dr. Westgard was interviewed for that article, plus here are some additional extras that support the piece.

Total Allowable Error and the Brain to Brain Loop

Total Error. Total Analytical Error. Total Allowable Error. There are a number of terms in use about errors, and it appears that a recent editorial from Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine has mistaken what the meanings of these terms are. Another popular concept right now is the "Brain-to-Brain" loop. How does Total Analytical Error interface with the Brain-to-Brain Loop? Are the two approaches in conflict or complementary?

We need more data, more data, and more data

There is an oft-quoted maxim for the restaurant business, that only three things matter: location, location, location. In a similar vein, medical laboratories trying to assess method performance and analytical quality need to focus on three things: data, more data, and still more data.