What happens when your QC is literally a straight line? What might be happening?

In this world of ever-increasing volume and ever-consolidating labs, there is a growing desire to "simplify" QC designs by using similar means and similar SDs for multiple methods, instruments, and laboratories. Is this really a good idea? What are the the benefits? What are the risks?

At the LabRoots Webinar on Hematology Quality Assurance, we had a lively exchange with participants. Here are 20 questions that we weren't able to answer in the time alotted. It turns out, many of the questions were about more than just hematology...

Now that we've introduced a new set of simplified "Westgard Sigma Rules" with QC Frequency recommendations, it's not surprising questions have arisen.

This question and answer covers the older version of our software, QC Validator. The concepts still apply with the use of our current version, EZ Rules 3.