scholarly journals Immunohistochemistry Internal Quality Assurance Program Testing in Breast Cancers in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. A252-A252
Author(s):  
Reza Alaghehbandan
2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 97-97
Author(s):  
Patricia A. Hurley ◽  
Renee Yvonne Smith ◽  
Nicholas J. Robert

97 Background: In 2008, ASCO published a statement to identify minimum standards and exemplary attributes of clinical trial sites. Recommendations were made to assist with the development and implementation of high-quality research programs. Based on feedback from an ASCO needs assessment survey, ASCO’s Community Research Forum (CRF) sought to develop a tool to help community-based research sites exceed the minimum standards of conducting clinical research, and to identify important components for an internal quality assurance program. Methods: A tool was developed to incorporate elements of ASCO publications on minimal standards and exemplary attributes of research sites. The tool was designed to assist community-based research sites with the development and implementation of an internal quality assurance program. A checklist was also developed to help sites easily conduct an assessment of their program. Community-based researchers provided feedback on the tool’s content and utilization. Feedback was incorporated and the tool was released for widespread use in March 2014. Results: The tool was very well received by reviewers. All reviewers indicated that the level of detail of the tool was sufficient; 94% indicated that it presented realistic expectations, in terms of resources required to implement; and 81% indicated that it would be valuable for conducting a quality assessment of their research program. As of July 2014, the tool was downloaded by over 150 practices from 8 different countries and early feedback continued to be favorable, particularly from small and/or new research programs. Conclusions: Many community-based research programs do not have the resources to support an effective quality assurance program and rely heavily on external audits. The ASCO Research Program Quality Assessment Tool provides self-directed continual process improvement to help community-based research sites create an internal quality assurance program and exceed minimum standards of conducting clinical research. The CRF will learn more from users of the tool about the quality of research programs and processes, and key quality metrics. The tool is available for download at www.asco.org/communityresearchforum.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Parveen Bansal

Laboratory testing is an important and integral part of the decision-making process and strongly influences medical diagnosis and therapies. Normally the extraneous results in a clinical report raise a doubt towards the quality assurance program of a laboratory. This communication is intended to highlight the potential use of previous reports of indoor patient in an indoor hospital laboratory as a tool for quality assurance. In this study approximately 10% of the doubtful reports were picked up randomly and the results were compared with the earlier reports of the patient retrieved from database. The study revealed that there was a significant reduction of more than 80% in the test repeats resulting in decrease in expenses on repeat tests (80%).There was a significant average reduction of time and human resource investment, decrease in the instrument working hours and increased workflow efficiency due to reduction in the test repeats. Moreover there was an increase in the confidence level of consultant towards quality control program and authenticity of the reports.


Author(s):  
Francis Ansah

The traditional tension between external and internal quality assurance implementation in higher education appears to be declining, based on a rethinking of the relationship between the two concepts. Although there are quality assurance agencies that still consider external and internal quality assurance as separate entities, most quality assurance agencies now regard the two concepts as complementary. In this paper, a case is put that the present rethinking of external and internal quality assurance in most higher education settings is guided by pragmatism, but not explicitly acknowledged in the literature. For a better appreciation of pragmatists’ influence on the current understanding of the relationship between external and internal quality assurance in higher education, this paper provides a further pragmatist conceptualisation of the two concepts to enhance stakeholders’ appreciation of employing a pragmatist approach to quality assurance practices in higher education. The conceptualisation is done through a pragmatist analysis of selected international accounts on higher education quality assurance. The paper concludes that pragmatism helps to understand external and internal quality assurance as nested concepts with reciprocities of accountability and improvement roles, and influences which call for alignment of perspectives through negotiations and settlements in order to focus on their practical relevance for implementation in higher education. La tension traditionnelle entre l’implémentation de systèmes d’assurance qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur semble s’affaiblir grâce à la reconsidération de la relation entre ces deux concepts. Bien qu’il existe des agences d’assurance qualité qui continuent à considérer les assurances qualité interne et externe comme deux entités distinctes, la plupart des agences considèrent désormais qu’elles sont complémentaires. Cet article soutient que la nouvelle manière de penser les assurances qualité interne et externe dans l’enseignement supérieur est guidée par un souci de pragmatisme mais est encore peu reconnue dans la littérature. Pour mieux apprécier l’influence des pragmatistes sur la compréhension actuelle de la relation entre les assurances qualité interne et externe, cet article offre une conceptualisation pragmatique approfondie de ces deux concepts dans le but d’augmenter l’appréciation des parties prenantes pour l’utilisation d’une telle approche. La conceptualisation proposée provient d’une analyse pragmatique d’un choix d’expériences internationales en matière d’assurance qualité pour l’enseignement supérieur. En conclusion, cet article affirme que le pragmatisme aide à comprendre les assurances qualité interne et externe comme des concepts imbriqués qui ont des rôles réciproques en ce qui concerne la responsabilisation du système et son amélioration. Ces rôles ainsi que l’influence exercée par ces deux types d’assurance qualité requièrent des négociations et accords, pour s’accorder sur les perspectives et pouvoir ensuite se concentrer pleinement sur la pertinence pratique de leur implémentation dans les systèmes d’enseignement supérieur. 


Author(s):  
Nelson Casimiro Zavale ◽  
Luisa Alcantra Santos ◽  
Maria Da Conceição Dias

Founded in 1962, Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Mozambique’s largest and most prestigious university, established an Internal Quality Assurance (IQA) system for the first time in 2013. Based on UEM’s case, this paper examines the features and challenges faced when implementing an IQA system within African higher education institutions. Literature on higher education quality assurance has widely examined the features of, and challenges faced by national QA systems, or by a QA system established across several higher education institutions (HEIs). However, this literature has rarely targeted single HEIs, particularly (African) HEIs that are establishing, for the first time, their IQA systems. Besides, even when IQA at a single HEI is targeted, this is often done by outsiders. Based on reflection-in-action and reflection-on-action, this paper addresses the perspectives of both insiders and outsiders. The authors analyse a system that they have been involved in establishing. The paper’s findings enable to conclude that the main challenges of implementing an IQA system in an African HEI are associated with linking QA to decision-making and to a funding strategy; training human resources and allocating funds for the system to operate and to be sustainable; enabling the system to be assimilated by the university community; and defining measurable and objective quality standards to enable unbiased performance classification. Fondée en 1962, l’Université Eduardo Mondlane (UEM), la plus grande et la plus prestigieuse université du Mozambique, a créé pour la première fois en 2013 un système interne d’assurance qualité (IAQ). A partir de l’étude du cas de l’UEM, cet article examine les caractéristiques et les défis qui attendent les institutions d’enseignement supérieur africaines qui désirent implémenter un IAQ. La littérature sur l’assurance qualité de l’enseignement supérieur a largement examiné les caractéristiques des systèmes nationaux d’AQ (ou de systèmes communs à plusieurs institutions), et les défis auxquels ils sont confrontés. Elle s ‘est cependant rarement concentrée sur des cas uniques d’institutions, notamment des institutions (africaines) qui ont créé pour la première fois leur propre IAQ. Par ailleurs, même quand elle s’attarde sur une institution en particulier, l’analyse est souvent effectuée par des personnes étrangères à l’institution. Fondé sur la réflexion dans l’action et la réflexion sur l’action, cet article présente les perspectives de personnes internes et étrangères à l’établissement. Il permet de conclure que les principaux défis à affronter lors de l’établissement d’un IAQ sont dus à la difficulté de lier l’AQ à la prise de décision et à une stratégie de financement ; à la formation des ressources humaines et l’allocation des fonds nécessaires pour que le système fonctionne et perdure ; à l’assimilation du système par la communauté universitaire ; et à la définition de standards de qualité mesurables et objectifs pour permettre une classification de la performance impartiale. 


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