QUALITY ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT Flashcards
When should temperatures of refrigerators and water baths be checked?
Daily
When should disinfection of centrifuges and checking of pH and purity meter resistance of deionized water used for reagent preparation be done?
Weekly
In quality control of laboratory equipment, this is done biweekly.
Checking of diluents for contamination
In quality control of laboratory equipment, this is done monthly.
Checking of speed of centrifuge with a tachometer, timing is checked with a stop watch, and checking bacterial count of deionized water used for reagent preparation.
In quality control of laboratory equipment, this is done quarterly.
Calibration of centrifuges
What is PDCA and PDSA?
PDCA - Plan – Do- Check- Act
PDSA - Plan- Do- Study - Act
This consists of internal monitoring systems built in to the test system and are called internal or procedural controls. It monitors the sufficient addition of a patient specimen or reagent, the instruments/reagents interaction, and, for lateral flow test methods, whether the sample migrated through the test strip properly.
Internal Quality Control
External quality control (EQC) uses a mechanical or electrical device in place of a liquid QC specimen. This type of QC can be internal or an external component inserted into a point of care (POC) instrument. EQC verifies the functional ability of a testing device, but it does not verify the integrity of the testing supplies
Electronic Controls
Refers to the overall process of guaranteeing quality patient care and is regulated throughout the total testing system
Quality Assessment
Refers to all of the laboratory’s policies, processes, procedures, and resources needed to achieve quality testing.
Quality system
Gradual change in the mean
Trend
Abrupt change in the mean
Shift
A systematic problem-solving approach using visual tools to identify the steps in the process for meeting customer satisfaction of quality care in a timely manner at reduced cost
Total Quality Management (TQM)
the time from receipt of the specimen in the laboratory to reporting of results to a patient care area or into a data information system
Turnaround time
Refers to the materials, procedures, and techniques that monitor the accuracy, precision, and reliability of a laboratory test.
Quality control
Used to verify the accuracy (ability to obtain the expected result) and precision (ability to obtain the same result on the same specimen) of a test and are exposed to the same conditions as the patient samples
External quality control
Identify the quality assurance error:
- Patient misidentification
- Wrong test ordered
- Incorrect urine specimen type collected
- Insufficient urine volume
- Delayed transport of urine to the laboratory
- Incorrect storage or preservation of urine
Pre-analytical Error
Identify the quality assurance error:
- Sample misidentification
- Erroneous instrument calibration
- Reagent deterioration
- Poor testing technique
- Instrument malfunction
- Interfering substances present
- Misinterpretation of quality control data
Analytical Error
Identify the quality assurance error:
- Patient misidentification
- Poor handwriting
- Transcription error
- Poor quality of instrument printer
- Failure to send report
- Failure to call critical values
- Inability to identify interfering substances
Post-analytical Error
the most common method for reporting results
Electronic transmission
