What's New: January 2015

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

Here's what's new on Westgard Web:

RESULTS: Global Goal Survey

We're happy to share the result of  our first global survey of quality goals. Over 450 laboratorians responded from 80 different countries, giving us not only great insight into the goals being used around the world, but also a vast number of comments.

Thanks to so many of you who shared your views and provided your perspectives. It's gratifying to see so many people work together to achieve a common goal.

See the Global View on Analytical Goals

Read Commentary from Around the World

Download the Chart Pack: Use the Survey Graphs in your own work
 

Empower IVD Globe Meeting Report

In December 2014, the first Empower IVD use meeting was held in Gent, Belgium. The Empower project promotes the quality, stability, and comparability of global in vitro diagnostic testing.

See the results of an EQA conducted with single-donation native sera

Sigma-metric analysis of a hematology analyzer


It's been a while since we've looked at the Sigma-metrics in hematology methods. This time we're going to check whether a study claim of "being good and precise" lives up to the actual performance. We also try to compare current hematology analytical goals to see if the targets are reasonable, too tight, or too wide.

In this instrument, is there bias in the blood?
 

QC-Dependent Risk Reduction

A guest commentary on the Woodworth et al study of HbA1c methods. If we have poor methods, can we overcome all the problems just by running more QC, more rules, and more often?

Can more controls compensate for a compromised method?