Maintaining Quality Control in Lab Operations - Strategy and Impact

Quality Control is a critical element of laboratory operations. It is essential to ensure that the test procedure and results are accurate, to maintain patient safety, and to provide physicians with the information required to make informed decisions.

However, managing quality control is a tedious task and can be time-consuming. A commendable Pathology Lab Software plays a critical role, in managing quality control at pathology labs, in each of their operations.

This article elaborates on how quality control is maintained at labs, and what is required to achieve reliable quality control while maintaining brand reputation.

Procedure to Maintain Quality Control at Labs

Following Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Protocols - Every organization is known to have a properly destined SOP to follow that guides them to achieve great results, in an organized manner. Likewise, for a pathology lab to maintain high-quality control, it is vital to ensure adherence to the lab’s SOPs and other protocols. This is done by providing a set of pre-maintained centralized repositories of all relevant documents. This way, quality control is managed promptly by all the members in a consistent and accurate manner.

Auto-tracking test procedures and results - A lab software is well known for its ability to track the test procedure followed and the results to assist in deciding on further actions. Key metrics such as turnaround time, accuracy, precision, etc., can be tracked and monitored, which in turn leads to the sooner indication of abnormality in results, or even manual errors, if any. Thus it is relatively easy to achieve accurate and reliable results from lab operations maintaining quality. 

Centralized Data Management - A dependable LIMS offers a centralized repository of all of its testing data that makes data management easy and increases the possibility of maintaining quality control. In turn, analyzing data, identifying trends, and making informed decisions from the stored data is seamless, which enhances productivity at lab operations. Appropriate data management assists in generating reports and dashboards, that provide great insights into the lab’s performance.

Automated Alerts and Notifications - Lab software is designed to notify of abnormality while analyzing the test samples, or when critical values are encountered from the test results. Lab equipment efficiency is also verified and alerts are made when there is a need for a fix. This improves the efficiency of labs by alerting them to unacceptable conditions, thereby focusing on maintaining the quality standards of the lab.

Regulatory Requirement Compliance - For any facility to function appropriately, it is critical to adhere to the regulatory requirements. All these aspects are equally important in maintaining compliance and improving quality control at the labs. A pathology lab software can aid in achieving this promptly, as it is capable of guiding to perform lab operations only as per the required regulatory conditions.

 

Audit Trails - A lab software helps to track the details of sample management as in who and what of the sample testing, and the procedure followed thus maintaining the audit trails. The lab staff are empowered by this data and thus can respond positively towards inaccuracies, ensure reliable and prompt handling of the test sample and follow the correct procedure in the process.

 

Maintenance and Calibration of Lab Equipment - Lab software can be designed to alert on upcoming schedules made for equipment maintenance and calibration, track and notify on equipment usage thereby keeping a check on the equipment in the lab. Thus quality control is also maintained as there is no cause for the improper functioning of equipment that could lead to missed results.

Impact of Maintaining Quality Control

Improved Accuracy and Reliability - Quality Control procedures ensure that analytical methods and equipment are working as intended and the results are within bounds of accuracy and precision. These procedures help to identify problems like equipment malfunction or operator errors and make sure to take corrective actions instantly.

Error Reduction - Performance monitoring, method validation, and instrument calibration are a few techniques that can assist in identifying errors that could compromise the precision and dependability of analytical data. Eventually, it is possible to reduce the chances of errors and improve the quality of the process and results.

Increased Efficiency - Assuring prompt performance of equipment and following processes rightly, helps to reduce TAT and also to achieve more tests within a timeframe. Ultimately, this results in improved efficiency thus offering great patient care and high outcomes with quality results.

Regulatory Requirement Compliance - Maintaining quality control is achieved by adhering to regulatory requirements and various industry standards. This leads to seamless operations at labs, resulting in accurate and reliable results.

Overall, quality control is an important aspect of testing and calibration at diagnostic labs. A reliable pathology lab software can assist in achieving the same by ensuring that the processes are followed perfectly, and all the critical elements in lab operations are managed in an equally important manner.