Quality Assurance Program in Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory at a Multispeciality Teaching Hospital, with Special Reference to Quality Indicators
Introduction: Clinical laboratories have made considerable progress in addressing the needs of quality control, to make a difference in patient care by giving reliable results. With high degree of dependence on the laboratory results for the healthcare management, the quality of laboratory testi...
Main Authors: | , , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Pvt. Ltd.
2019-04-01
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Series: | National Journal of Laboratory Medicine |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://www.njlm.net/articles/PDF/2351/40437_CE[Ra1]_F(SHU)_PF1(AG_OM)_PFA(SHU)_PB(AG_OM)_PN(SHU).pdf |
Summary: | Introduction: Clinical laboratories have made considerable
progress in addressing the needs of quality control, to make
a difference in patient care by giving reliable results. With high
degree of dependence on the laboratory results for the healthcare
management, the quality of laboratory testing and reporting has
become crucial for the better outcome of the healthcare delivery
system, particularly in case of tertiary care hospitals. The goal of
effective quality assurance program is to ensure execution of all
required activities in a proper, professionally acceptable manner.
Aim: To evaluate the existing Quality Assurance Program (QAP)
of the Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory and to assess the
Quality Indicators (QI) in terms of pre-analytical, analytical and
post-analytical phases.
Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was conducted
in a Clinical Biochemistry Laboratory of a Multispecialty
teaching hospital, Mysuru, Karnataka, India. The QAP available
in the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and the QI data
from January 2017-December 2017 was collected. The QI data
was assessed under pre-analytical/analytical/post-analytical
phases. The data collected was analysed using Microsoft Excel
and Microsoft data analysis pack tool.
Results: A total of 29 parameters were evaluated to assess the
execution of QAP being implemented in the clinical biochemistry
laboratory. The existing QAP in the clinical biochemistry
laboratory was assessed in terms of structure, process and
outcome. We found that most of the processes were in place,
as per the defined standards. The overall trend analysis of QI
showed a consistent and good performance, though there were
few areas where there was scope for improvement.
Conclusion: Assessing the performance of QI provides an
insight into the efficacy of the QAP. Identifying the gaps
in the QAP opens up new avenues for continuous quality
improvement. |
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ISSN: | 2277-8551 2455-6882 |