Quality Assurance in the Hematology Laboratory

Presented By: Sten Westgard, MS - Director of Client Services and Technology - Westgard Quality Control Speaker Biography: Sten Westgard, MS, is the Director of Client Services and Technology for Westgard Quality Control. Mr. Westgard earned his MS degree in Computer Science from Pace University (New York, New York). For more than 20 years, Sten has managed the Westgard website, course portal, and blog, creating and administering online training, as well as editing and writing hundreds of reports, essays, and applications on quality control, method validation, Six Sigma Risk Management and other laboratory management topics. He has edited and contributed to numerous books on quality, including Basic QC Practices, Basic Method Validation, Basic Quality Management Systems, Six Sigma QC Design and Control, Six Sigma Risk Analysis, CLIA Final Rules, Assuring the Right Quality Right, The Poor Lab's Guide to the Regulations and Nothing but the Truth about Quality. He has co-edited two special issues of Clinics in Laboratory Medicine (2015 and 2017), as well as a special forthcoming issue of Biochemica Medica (2018) Webinar: Quality Assurance in the Hematology Laboratory Webinar Abstract: Statistical Quality Control is well established as a key assurance technique for medical laboratories. In chemistry and other disciplines, the use of statistical quality control and “Westgard Rules” is common, but the implementation of these techniques is less well understood in hematology. The challenge of hematology parameters, particularly the short life of the controls, often introduces additional variation and errors that obscure the real status of the patient specimens. The issues of using external controls has often led hematology labs to adopt inaccurate and inefficient practices in their quality control program. Through benchmarking on the Six Sigma scale, it is possible to optimize the QC process for hematology parameters, adjusting the QC rules and controls so that tests are not “over-QC’d” nor “under-QC’d”. Learning Objectives: -Recognize poor QC practices in hematology -Adopt best QC practices -Optimize the “Westgard Rules” for hematology parameters -Adjust QC frequency to account for the Sigma-metric performance of the test Earn PACE Credits: 1. Make sure you’re a registered member of LabRoots (https://www.labroots.com/ms/webinar/q...) 2. Watch the webinar on YouTube or on the LabRoots Website (https://www.labroots.com/ms/webinar/q...) 3. Click Here to get your PACE credits (Expiration date – August 09, 2020 12:00 AM): https://www.labroots.com/credit/pace-... LabRoots on Social: Facebook:   / labrootsinc   Twitter:   / labroots   LinkedIn:   / labroots   Instagram:   / labrootsinc   Pinterest:   / labroots   SnapChat: labroots_inc