IQCP: Bridging QC and QA
It appears that there is still some confusion among laboratory personnel in differentiating QC from QA, and that this uncertainty has been compounded by the introduction and implementation of the Individualized...
Quality Improvement: The Process to Improve Patient Safety
The science of Quality Improvement (sometimes referred to as Continuous Quality Improvement or Total Quality Management) has been applied for decades in manufacturing and other industries to reduce defects and ...
In search for the soul of healthcare
Experiencing the joy of being healthy plays a central role in modern life. Health improves the quality of our lives and the lives of those we love. I certainly don’t need to explain to you, how advances in s...
ASCLS: Improving Diagnosis in Health Care from the Lab’s Perspective
Last week, on September 22nd, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) announced the publication of its report, Improving Diagnosis in Health, a follow-up to To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm. Improving D...
Preventing pre-analytical errors to reduce costs and ensure positive patient outcomes.
Preventable laboratory errors occur through all phases of testing process. Unfortunately, 46-68 percent of all laboratory errors occur during the pre-analytics phase of testing due to the complexity and manual ...
Quality and Continuous Learning
As a nation, we have invested extensively in striving for quality and patient safety in healthcare. Many of us would agree that the two major reports of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) –To Err is Human: Buildin...
ASCLS: Ensuring Safe Laboratory Services
Healthcare needs to be safe, effective, efficient, timely, patient-centered and equitable. Each of these attributes is one of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Quality Aims, and each describes one component of...
Medical Laboratory Professionals, Improving Patient Safety: An Introduction
It has been fifteen years since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published To Err is Human1 and Crossing the Quality Chasm2 alerting healthcare professionals and consumers that patients were unintentionally bein...
Cultural Competence
The term “creating a culture of…..” has become the cliché of the 2000s’ ethos of competent management. It is no longer enough to lay down the rules; train your personnel, and maintain documentation; now we must...
U.S. News Unveils Quality Hospital Ratings System
Do you wonder how well your hospital stacks up against others in your area? This month, U.S. News & World Report unveiled its new system Best Hospitals for Common Care ratings, an analysis of hospital qual...