Guest Essay
Dr. Pål Rustad explains how more than 100 laboratories in the Nordic countries collaborated to produce common reference intervals for 25 quantities in serum/plasma and 8 hematology quantities.
Dr. HMJ Goldschmidt and Dr JC Libeer explain the history of the Quality in the Spotlight conference, an annual event in Europe that is devoted to the topic of quality. Also, a list of "Westgard Award" winners is given.
Sten Westgard provides a report on a presentation from three experts on three different quality management trends. Different approaches are discussed, areas of convergence are described.
Risk Management is coming to laboratory medicine, possibly to a regulation near you. As we learn about the principles, tools, and processes of RM, Sten Westgard reminds us to take time to evaluate the risks.
Dr. Carmen Ricos and her colleagues have provided us with an update to their Biological Variation Database. New analytes have been added, figures have been updated and in some cases, corrected. This article summarizes all the changes made to the desirable specifications for total error, bias, and imprecision (derived from biological variation) for hundreds of analytes.