The Role of the CLS in Your Laboratory's Quality Management Program

Release Date: Oct 2019

Lucia M. Berte, MA, MT(ASCP)SBB, DLM; CQA(ASQ)CMQ/OE

President, Laboratories Made Better! P.C., Broomfield, CO

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe a graphic that shows how laboratory management activities support the pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic technical activities.
• Identify at least 12 management activities that any clinical laboratory scientist (CLS) needs to perform in addition to technical responsibilities.
• Use the graphic to assess one’s personal performance as a CLS in contributing to laboratory quality and patient safety.
• Use the graphic as a checklist to construct a student or staff training program on laboratory quality.

Who should attend? Residents, Laboratory Managers, Bench Supervisors, Bench Technologists & Technicians, Cytotechnologists, Histotechnologists, Phlebotomists, Students

Description:

Can you describe the specific roles you, as a clinical laboratory scientist (CLS), have in your laboratory’s quality control, quality assurance, and quality management programs? Do you and your fellow laboratorians understand the differences in these distinct aspects of laboratory quality? Does each CLS give the same answer when asked “What do you do in your job for laboratory quality?” If not, your laboratory could use a better understanding of the important interrelationships in managing laboratory quality.

This webcast course describes laboratory quality in a series of graphics that simplify understanding of the laboratory quality levels and personnel responsibilities in each level. It specifies activities CLSs need to perform to meet regulatory and accreditation requirements for medical laboratories as well as to support laboratory quality and patient safety. The differences between three levels of laboratory quality are shown in a simple table. Another graphic demonstrates the relationship between laboratory management activities and the technical pre-analytic, analytic, and post-analytic workflow for anatomical and clinical pathology. A checklist provides a useful tool for developing your laboratory’s student or staff training program on quality management.

Many laboratorians struggle with understanding their specific roles in laboratory quality management. Let this program bring clarity to your laboratory’s quality program.