QMP-LS is proud to announce the publication of two Practitioner's Reports in Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement.
Congratulations to EQA Senior Consultant Technologist, Christine Fleming the author of this article:
Twenty-year review of laboratory performance on enteric parasitology
external quality assessment surveys 1992–2011, Ontario Canada.
Christine Ann Fleming
Accreditation and Quality Assurance Journal for Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement
ISSN 0949-1775
Accred Qual Assur
DOI 10.1007/s00769-012-0924-0
Abstract
Quality Management Program–Laboratory Services (QMP–LS) is a mandatory external quality assessment (EQA) and accreditation programme for laboratories in Ontario. This report summarizes performance of Ontario laboratories on QMP–LS enteric parasitology EQA surveys and compares this performance over time. The results reported by participating laboratories were assessed against the expected results as determined by reference or referee laboratories. The number of laboratories licensed for parasitology decreased dramatically over the 20 years. On average, more than 80 % of participants and often more than 90 % were able to detect and identify the species and stages for the majority of parasites. Many of the challenges contained multiple parasites and about half contained low numbers, which affected performance on individual samples. The level of performance by Ontario laboratories on parasitology EQA surveys was consistently high over the 20 years. The parasites that presented the most difficulty were Enteromonas hominis and Trichomonas hominis.
This article can be purchased online: http://www.springerlink.com/content/9328rrh826801n30/?MUD=MP
Congratulations to the authors: Berna Aslan, EQA Program Consultant; Jane Gun-Munro, Director, EQA and Gregory J. Flynn, Managing Director,QMP-LS and presented by Berna Aslan at the Eurachem PT Workshop, October 2011, Istanbul, Turkey.
Role of proficiency testing in monitoring of standardization of hemoglobin A1c methods
Berna Aslan, Jane Gun-Munro and Gregory J. Flynn.
Accreditation and Quality Assurance: Journal for Quality, Comparability and Reliability in Chemical Measurement.
Volume 17, Number 4 (2012), 419-424, DOI: 10.1007/s00769-012-0907-1
Abstract
After Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), therapeutic targets for monitoring diabetes therapy were recommended, first, National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program (NGSP), then, the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) developed standardization initiatives. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the role of a proficiency testing (PT) programs in monitoring the long-term effect of these initiatives and the current status of HbA1c measurement. Measurement precision as a coefficient of variation (CV), measurement bias (bias), and satisfactory HbA1c result rates in proficiency testing (PT) surveys were evaluated using fresh single donor whole blood PT items and assigned values from a NGSP-certified secondary reference laboratory. Between 2000 and 2010, both CV and bias of the IC measurement method showed a decreasing trend. While the CV of the HPLC measurement method decreased, no significant change was observed in its bias. The rates of satisfactory HbA1c results in PT surveys were higher in HPLC users than IC users. In 2010, the average CVs in HPLC and IC groups were 2.6 and 3.4 %, biases were 2.7 and 1.8 %, and corresponding total error (TE) estimates were 7.8 and 8.5 %, respectively. These TE values were higher than the maximum permissible measurement error of 7 %, developed based on clinical use of the test. The NGSP and the IFCC networks have promoted improvements in HbA1c testing; however, tightening of NGSP method certification criteria seems to be necessary to achieve a maximum permissible measurement error of 7 %.
This article can be purchased online: http://www.springerlink.com/content/t05hr60049282656/