Point-of-care urine albumin in general practice offices: effect of participation in an external quality assurance scheme

2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tone Bukve ◽  
Thomas Røraas ◽  
Berit Oddny Riksheim ◽  
Nina Gade Christensen ◽  
Sverre Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
Initial Assessment ◽  
Internal Quality ◽  
Feedback Report ◽  
Analytical Quality ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Urine Albumin

AbstractThe Norwegian Quality Improvement of Primary Care Laboratories (Noklus) offers external quality assurance (EQA) schemes (EQASs) for urine albumin (UA) annually. This study analyzed the EQA results to determine how the analytical quality of UA analysis in general practice (GP) offices developed between 1998 (n=473) and 2012 (n=1160).Two EQA urine samples were distributed yearly to the participants by mail. The participants measured the UA of each sample and returned the results together with information about their instrument, the profession and number of employees at the office, frequency of internal quality control (IQC), and number of analyses per month. In the feedback report, they received an assessment of their analytical performance.The number of years that the GP office had participated in Noklus was inversely related to the percentage of “poor” results for quantitative but not semiquantitative instruments. The analytical quality improved for participants using quantitative instruments who received an initial assessment of “poor” and who subsequently changed their instrument. Participants using reagents that had expired or were within 3 months of the expiration date performed worse than those using reagents that were expiring in more than 3 months.Continuous participation in the Noklus program improved the performance of quantitative UA analyses at GP offices. This is probably in part attributable to the complete Noklus quality system, whereby in addition to participating in EQAS, participants are visited by laboratory consultants who examine their procedures and provide practical advice and education regarding the use of different instruments.

scholarly journals The Importance of Reagent Lot Registration in External Quality Assurance/Proficiency Testing Schemes

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 708-715 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Stavelin ◽  
Berit Oddny Riksheim ◽  
Nina Gade Christensen ◽  
Sverre Sandberg
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Proficiency Testing ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
International Normalized Ratio ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Albumin Creatinine Ratio ◽  
Proficiency Testing Schemes ◽  
Urine Albumin ◽  
Eqa Schemes

Abstract BACKGROUND Providers of external quality assurance (EQA)/proficiency testing schemes have traditionally focused on evaluation of measurement procedures and participant performance and little attention has been given to reagent lot variation. The aim of the present study was to show the importance of reagent lot registration and evaluation in EQA schemes. METHODS Results from the Noklus (Norwegian Quality Improvement of Primary Care Laboratories) urine albumin/creatinine ratio (ACR) and prothrombin time international normalized ratio (INR) point-of-care EQA schemes from 2009–2015 were used as examples in this study. RESULTS The between-participant CV for Afinion ACR increased from 6%–7% to 11% in 3 consecutive surveys. This increase was caused by differences between albumin reagent lots that were also observed when fresh urine samples were used. For the INR scheme, the CoaguChek INR results increased with the production date of the reagent lots, with reagent lot medians increasing from 2.0 to 2.5 INR and from 2.7 to 3.3 INR (from the oldest to the newest reagent lot) for 2 control levels, respectively. These differences in lot medians were not observed when native patient samples were used. CONCLUSIONS Presenting results from different reagent lots in EQA feedback reports can give helpful information to the participants that may explain their deviant EQA results. Information regarding whether the reagent lot differences found in the schemes can affect patient samples is important and should be communicated to the participants as well as to the manufacturers. EQA providers should consider registering and evaluating results from reagent lots.

scholarly journals Challenges in Quality Assurance: A Ten-Year Journey

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 01016
Author(s):  
Jenny Mochtar ◽  
Gan Shu San
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Academic Standards ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
Internal Quality ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Christian University ◽  
Internal Quality Assurance

Academic quality is defined as the equivalent to academic standards related to student learning outcomes, which consist of specific levels of knowledge, skills, and abilities achieved by students participating in a program. The achievement of academic standards is accommodated by implementing both internal and external quality assurance practices. Internal quality assurance refers to policies and practices used by the higher education institutions to monitor and improve the quality of their education, while external quality assurance refers to policies and practices set up by external parties to assure the quality of higher education institutions and programs. Petra Christian University has built and implemented its internal quality assurance since 2009 based on its unique quality culture. After its ten-year journey and the achievements that Petra Christian University has reached in 2019, the Industrial Revolution 4.0 and Society 5.0 are challenges ahead that Petra Christian University has to face.

A further cautionary tale for interpretation of external quality assurance results (EQA): Commutability of EQA materials for point-of-care glucose meters

2016 ◽  
Vol 462 ◽  
pp. 146-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Jacobs ◽  
Marion Fokkert ◽  
Robbert Slingerland ◽  
Patricia De Schrijver ◽  
Lieve Van Hoovels
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
Cautionary Tale ◽  
External Quality

Analytical performance specifications for external quality assessment – definitions and descriptions

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham R.D. Jones ◽  
Stephanie Albarede ◽  
Dagmar Kesseler ◽  
Finlay MacKenzie ◽  
Joy Mammen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Analytical Performance ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
European Federation ◽  
Analytical Quality ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Target Value ◽  
Performance Specifications ◽  
Data Points

AbstractExternal Quality Assurance (EQA) is vital to ensure acceptable analytical quality in medical laboratories. A key component of an EQA scheme is an analytical performance specification (APS) for each measurand that a laboratory can use to assess the extent of deviation of the obtained results from the target value. A consensus conference held in Milan in 2014 has proposed three models to set APS and these can be applied to setting APS for EQA. A goal arising from this conference is the harmonisation of EQA APS between different schemes to deliver consistent quality messages to laboratories irrespective of location and the choice of EQA provider. At this time there are wide differences in the APS used in different EQA schemes for the same measurands. Contributing factors to this variation are that the APS in different schemes are established using different criteria, applied to different types of data (e.g. single data points, multiple data points), used for different goals (e.g. improvement of analytical quality; licensing), and with the aim of eliciting different responses from participants. This paper provides recommendations from the European Federation of Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Task and Finish Group on Performance Specifications for External Quality Assurance Schemes (TFG-APSEQA) and on clear terminology for EQA APS. The recommended terminology covers six elements required to understand APS: 1) a statement on the EQA material matrix and its commutability; 2) the method used to assign the target value; 3) the data set to which APS are applied; 4) the applicable analytical property being assessed (i.e. total error, bias, imprecision, uncertainty); 5) the rationale for the selection of the APS; and 6) the type of the Milan model(s) used to set the APS. The terminology is required for EQA participants and other interested parties to understand the meaning of meeting or not meeting APS.

scholarly journals The implementation of an external quality assurance method for point- of- care tests for HIV and syphilis in Tanzania

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter W Smit ◽  
David Mabey ◽  
Thomas van der Vlis ◽  
Hans Korporaal ◽  
Julius Mngara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Point Of Care ◽  
External Quality Assurance ◽  
External Quality ◽  
Point Of Care Tests ◽  
Quality Assurance Method
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