Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA-May 2011-Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) and the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) announce three upcoming teleconferences.
The teleconference "EP18-A2: Risk Management Techniques to Identify and Control Lab Errors" will occur on May 19, 2011, from 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time. This presentation reviews the errors and failures in the clinical lab that arise in the three phases of clinical testing: preanalytical (preexamination), analytical (examination), and postanalytical (postexamination). The program will discuss the why sources of these errors need to be identified to minimize their occurrence, lower the effect on patients, or totally eliminate the error or failure. A systematic approach to identifying and controlling theses risks (risk management) can be applied utilizing the concepts within the CLSI guideline EP18-A2. This webinar will describe the guideline, give examples of current laboratory best practices, and allow time for individual questions on how to apply these concepts to manage risk in your laboratory.
On June 9, 2011, from 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time the teleconference "Quantitative D-dimer for the Exclusion of Venous Thromboembolic Disease" will be presented. This talk will review the guidelines for the use of the quantitative D-dimer assay for the exclusion of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Issues to be discussed include preanalytical handling of the patient and the specimen with emphasis on the clinical determination of preanalytical probability of a positive test; methods used for analysis and the recommended test characteristics (negative predictive value), including the threshold for exclusion of VTE; and recommended reporting of results.
The teleconference "CQI: An Essential Building Block in a Quality Management System" will be presented on June 16, 2011 from 1:00-2:00 PM Eastern (US) Time. Continual quality improvement (CQI) is an ongoing, systematic effort that is an essential component of a quality management system. This program will review the recently revised CLSI guideline Quality Management System: Continual Improvement; Approved Guideline-Third Edition (GP22-A3). The guideline includes written and graphic descriptions of fundamental processes and common supporting elements that guide an organization in developing or expanding a continual improvement program.
Continuing education credit through P.A.C.E. and Florida continuing education credit is offered for all three teleconferences. More details and registration information for the upcoming teleconferences can be found at www.aphl.org/clsi.
CLSI is a volunteer-driven, membership-supported, nonprofit organization dedicated to developing standards and guidelines for the health care and medical testing community through a consensus process that balances the perspectives of industry, government, and the health care professions. For additional information, visit the CLSI website at www.clsi.org or call 610.688.0100.
Contact: Amanda Holm, Senior Marketing Manager
610.688.0100 ext. 5935
[email protected].