Patient Data as QC

One of the most important things we do as a laboratory is run Quality Control (QC) material on every assay we perform in order to ensure that the assay is working correctly and the test results are valid. The importance of QC cannot be overstated, as it allows us to confidently report analyte values that allow correct diagnostic, treatment and treatment monitoring decisions for each patient for which we provide service. And yet every laboratorian knows that running QC is often problematic.

QC material is not true serum, plasma, urine or CSF and as such, it frequently does not act like a patient sample. This is referred to as commutability – the ability of a synthetic or non-human-based material to act like a human sample in a test system. As hard as manufacturers try to make their QC product commutable, problems still exist. Every tech knows that a shift in QC is not always reflected by a shift in patient sample results, and conversely a shift in patient sample results may not be mirrored by a shift in QC.

Read more:
Patient Data as QC 

Source: lablogatory
____________________________________________________________

Follow Art and Science of Laboratory Medicine on

_____________________________________________________________