What's New: January 2017

Posted by Sten Westgard, MS

Here's what's happening on Westgard Web this month:

7 Tips for Better Sigma in '17


Want World Class Quality? You have to ask for it by name. We see more and more labs, hospitals, and health systems doing this - asking for performance data and Sigma-metrics from their prospective vendors. But it's not as easy as it seems. You need to specify the goals, the decision levels, the imprecision time frame, and more. If you want to get an honest picture of performance from your vendors, you need to be in control of the tender / bidding process.

Here's some gentle advice about adding Six Sigma to the tender process

A Sigma-metric analysis of a Vitros 5600, an Hitachi 7170, and a Roche Cobas 8000.


What happens when a hospital has multiple analyzers, "closed systems", "open systems" and "mixed systems"? When we use different analyzers, reagents, and calibrators, can we assume the results will always be comparable? NO. No, we can not.

Can wet and dry chemistry provide comparable results within the same healthcare system?
 

ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems

Dr. Paulo Pereira begins a series on ISO standards that apply to the medical laboratory. ISO standards dominate more and more of the globe, and laboratories even within the US need to take a closer look at what is required to implement them. ISO 9001 had a significant update in 2015 and Dr. Pereira examines what those changes are and what they mean for medical laboratories

Do you need to adopt "Risk-based thinking"? ISO says so
 

Quality Healthcare Medical Service of Hong Kong achieves Sigma Verification

Quality Healthcare Medical Service (QHMS) becomes the first laboratory in Hong Kong to achieve Sigma Verification of Performance.



QHMS Sigma Verification of Performance