Professional paper
Accreditation of Medical Laboratories in Croatia – Experiences of the Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb
Zlata Flegar-Meštrić
; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, Zagreb, Croatia
Aida Nazor
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Sonja Perkov
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Branka Šurina
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Mirjana Mariana Kardum-Paro
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Zoran Šiftar
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Mirjana Sikirica
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivica Sokolić
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivan Ožvald
; Institute of Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Željko Vidas
; University Hospital »Merkur«, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Since 2003 when the international norm for implementation of quality management in medical laboratories (EN ISO 15189, Medical laboratories – Particular requirements for quality and competence) was established and accepted, accreditation has become practical, generally accepted method of quality management and confirmation of technical competence of medical laboratories in the whole world. This norm has been translated into Croatian and accepted by the Croatian Institute for Norms as Croatian norm. Accreditation is carried out on voluntary basis by the Croatian Accreditation Agency that has up to now accredited two clinical medical biochemical laboratories in the Republic of Croatia. Advantages of accredited laboratory lie in its documented management system, constant improvement and training, reliability of test results, establishing users’ trust in laboratory services, test results comparability and interlaboratory (international) test results acceptance by adopting the concept of metrological traceability in laboratory medicine.
Keywords
medical biochemical laboratory; ISO standards; accreditation; quality management; traceability in laboratory medicine; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
51261
URI
Publication date:
10.3.2010.
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