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Quality assurance in clinical biochemistry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

Callum G. Fraser
Callum G. Fraser
Affiliation:
Directorate of Biochemical Medicine, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee
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Synopsis

There are many steps in the process between the clinician requesting a clinical biochemistry test and receiving a numerical result. Each of these steps must be subject to quality assurance techniques. Clinical biochemistry laboratories now have mature, integrated systems of internal quality control, external quality assessment and quality assurance to ensure that the results issued do aid in the provision of optimum patient care. The recent advent of a professionally led laboratory accreditation scheme will stimulate further improvements in quality. Enthusiastic adoption of the techniques of quality management science, in the form of total quality management systems, will focus future attention on laboratories providing services to the standards dictated by consumers. Translation of these standards into objective operational specifications will then allow laboratories to adopt appropriate comprehensive quality assurance techniques which will guarantee the quality demanded.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 101: Quality Assurance in Medical Care , 1993 , pp. 251 - 261
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1993

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