The Westgard Rules

What's New: October 2015

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

 

Here's what's new on Westgard Web:

 

QuaLab, a Sigma-metric powered partner

Westgard QC is not only proud to work with QuaLab on providing translations of our reference manuals, but also on consulting services. The staff of QuaLab recently completed a course of training in Basic QC Practices and Six Sigma metrics, enabling them to provide assistance to labs seeking Sigma VP status in China.


A local source in China for help in Sigma-metrics
 

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Break all the Rules, Part Two

In Part Two of our series on Basic QC interpretation, we double the fun from one to two controls. Now that you are looking at controls high and low, can you see the violations both within-run, within-material/level, as well as across-run and across-material/level?

Two controls can sometimes mean more than double trouble
 

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Welcome ChiMei Hospital to Sigma VP

ChiMei Hospital has become the first medical institution in Taiwan to receive the Westgard Sigma Verification of Performance.

ChiMei made an aggressive, ambitious application: two branches (Yong Kang and Liouying), four instruments, more than 100 assays. It was inspiring to see the commitment and effort expended to achieve this verification - from the leadership of the hospital down to the technologists at the bench. It's always good to see an institution unite around quality and reinforce the culture of caring for patients, not just cutting costs.

See the list of assays verified and view the Sigma Decision Charts for ChiMei Hospital

The Westgard Sigma Verification of Performance Program gives laboratories a way to prove that they have the right methods, the right staff, the right training, the right QC, and ultimately, the right test results. It's not an easy process, and it's not for everyone, but Sigma VP does offer labs the chance to benchmark their performance on a global standard.

Explore the Sigma Verification of Performance [VP] Program here and see labs that have already succeeded.

Coming to Croatia: Zagreb's EFLM course

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

I'm a bit behind in placing a notice about this, but nevertheless I am thrilled to be a part of the 15th EFLM postgraduate course, this year's theme being "How to assess the Quality of your Method?"

Over the course of two days, October 24th and 25th, a very strong roster of experts and scientists will cover all the method validation and verification topics necessary for assessing the acceptability of a method.

I will be speaking near the end, with a lecture first on Six Sigma, and lastly on Biological Variation.

You can find more details here about the course.

Pop Quiz: what's the error rate of diagnosis in US healthcare?

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

Can you guess just how bad US healthcare is at making the right diagnosis?

Is the error rate in the US related to diagnosis

• 5%?
• 10%?
• 6 to 17%?
• all of the above?

The answer, after the jump...

Question for You: Do You MU?

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

 

Does your lab measure measurement uncertainty?

We've got a new poll up and it's really important that you and your laboratory take part in it.

 

We're trying to understand the use and utility of measurement uncertainty around the globe. In some areas of the world, measurement uncertainty is an article of faith, almost a religion, while in other areas of the world (for example, the US), it's barely spoken of and never implemented. This wide disparity in use and utility leads one to question: is this measurement worth measuring?

So, whether your lab DOES or DOES NOT use measurement uncertainty, we want to hear from you. We want to get wide representation of labs all over the planet, so we have a more realistic picture of the number of labs that are calculating it, as well as the number of labs that are actually trying to do something useful with it.  Or not.

As with our previous polls, we are including an incentive: for those who take part, you are automatically (where legal) entered into a Westgard Wear raffle. We will pick 5 winners and each one of them will have a choice of either a bobble-head, a bobble-head drive, a hat, or an online course.

So, go fill out this poll!  We want to eliminate the uncertainty about the use of measurement uncertainty!!

New Publication: Useful measures and models for quality

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

There's a new article available online-first in Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. This article is of considerable importance to the debate on the "Milan Mandates" and the future implementation of error models for QC management. So while this is only available to subscribers at the moment

Useful measures and models for analytical quality management in medical laboratories, by James O. Westgard, PhD

Useful measures and models for analytical quality management in medical laboratories, Westgard JO, Clin Chem Lab Med 2015, ahead of print.

Since there was no time set aside to discuss the utility and practicality of the Total Error model at the Milan conference, this opinion article is an overdue counterweight to the Milan Mandates. It is expected that there will be counter-editorials also published in the same issue with this editorial.

The debate on error, bias, imprecision, trueness, inaccuracy, total error, measurement uncertainty, etc, etc, continues...

New publication: PT/EQA on Sigma Scale

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

There's a new article in the September issue of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine:

Assessing Quality on the Sigma Scale

Assessing quality on the Sigma scale from proficiency testing and external quality assessment surveys, Westgard JO and Westgard SA. Clin Chem Lab Med 2015; 53(10); 1531-1535