Case report

https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2017.010

Essential aspects of external quality assurance for point-of-care testing

Anne Stavelin ; The Norwegian Quality Improvement of Primary Care Laboratories (Noklus), Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
Sverre Sandberg ; The Norwegian Quality Improvement of Primary Care Laboratories (Noklus), Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital, Bergen, Norway.

Abstract

External quality assurance (EQA) or proficiency testing for point-of-care (POC) testing is in principle similar to EQA for larger hospital laboratories, but the participants are different. The participants are usually health care personnel with little or no knowledge of laboratory medicine. The implication of this is that the EQA provider has to a) convince the participants that participation in EQA schemes are important, b) be able to circulate materials with reasonable time intervals, c) produce feedback reports that are understandable, and d) offer help and guidance to the participants when needed. It is also important that EQA for POC testing e) address the pre-examination, the examination and the post-examination processes, and f) that schemes for measurement procedures using interval or ordinal scale are offered. The aim of the present paper is to highlight important issues of these essential aspects of EQA for POC testing.

Keywords

quality assurance; health care; laboratory proficiency testing; point-of-care testing; health personnel

Hrčak ID:

176202

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/176202

Publication date:

15.2.2017.

Visits: 1.582 *