Quality assurance and quality control

We can argue about how many diagnostic errors happen each year, but we can’t deny that there are too many of them. And when one of those errors is ours, denial is especially inappropriate – but how many of us feel comfortable about a confessional with the patient? In the first installment of a two-part feature, we examine the difficulties around disclosure and communication of diagnostic errors.

Direct-to-consumer lab tests offer low cost and convenience, but can the results they return be relied upon?

Sitting Down With… James Westgard, Emeritus Professor in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School and President of Westgard QC, Inc., USA.

What is "The Individual Quality Control Plan (IQCP)" and should test sites adopt it?

The introduction of a global reference method for measuring beta-amyloid biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid could harmonize Alzheimer’s diagnostic results

Why we need to harmonize fasting definitions for blood sampling

New recommendations on improving the diagnostic process focus on errors, communication, and putting the patient at the center of healthcare

Putting patient safety first means reducing laboratory-associated and diagnostics errors

The EFLM President weighs in on preanalytical phase errors and what can be done about them.

Why it is vital to define critical values and establish standard procedures for reporting them.