Quality management systems: A course on cultivating quality and addressing common challenges in the laboratory

Description

This online course provides practical, focused education on requirements for quality management systems, approaches to preventing and addressing large-scale testing errors, and how to prepare for lab inspections. Encourage your own culture of openness and continual improvement by participating in this collection of recorded lectures, articles, and a self-assessment quiz curated by clinical laboratory scientists for the busy bench professional.

Online course participants can download online course materials as laboratory resources and revisit these lectures through December 31, 2025.

Target Audience

This activity is designed to meet the needs of clinical laboratory managers, medical technologists, point-of-care coordinators, and other scientists overseeing and/or monitoring quality management systems.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe the basic requirements of a quality management system.
• Apply principles that foster a culture of quality that includes systems thinking and quality hierarchy.
• Prepare for laboratory inspections in a manner that takes quality management systems beyond mere collection of compliance evidence.
• Implement approaches to prevent and address large-scale testing errors in high-volume testing laboratories during the analytical phase.

Course Outline

• Quality Management Systems Overview (Lecture)
  Cheryl Wildermuth, MT(ASCP), Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center
• Cultivating a Culture of Quality in the Laboratory (Lecture)
  Jennifer Dawson, MHA, DLM(ASCP)SLS, QIHC, QLC, Sonic Reference Laboratory
• Moving Beyond the Evidence Binder (Clinical Laboratory News article)
  Jennifer Dawson, MHA, DLM(ASCP)SLS, QIHC, QLC, Sonic Reference Laboratory
• Large Scale Testing Errors: Tips on How Labs Can Prepare and Recover (Clinical Laboratory News article)
  Nikola Baumann, PhD, DABCC, Mayo Clinic
• 10-question post-test

Faculty

Course Faculty

Nikola Baumann, PhD, DABCC
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, MN

Jennifer Dawson, MHA, DLM(ASCP)SLS, QIHC, QLC
Sonic Reference Laboratory
Austin, TX

Cheryl Wildermuth, MT(ASCP)
Avera McKennan Hospital and University Health Center
Sioux Falls, SD

Course Reviewers

• Amy Rockefeller, MLS(ASCP), University of California-San Diego Health, San Diego, CA
• David Shiembob, C(ASCP), ARUP Laboratories, Salt Lake City, UT
• Jeffrey Young, MLS(ASCP), Providence Regional Laboratory Services, Portland, OR
• Steven Zibrat, MS, MT(ASCP), University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL

Disclosures and Statement of Independence

The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine (formerly AACC) is dedicated to ensuring balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all educational activities. All participating planning committee members and faculty are required to disclose to the program audience any financial relationships related to the subject matter of this program. Disclosure information is reviewed in advance in order to manage and resolve any possible conflicts of interest. The intent of this disclosure is to provide participants with information on which they can make their own judgments.

• The following faculty reported no relevant financial relationship: Nikola Baumann, PhD, Jennifer Dawson, MHA, Cheryl Wildermuth, MT(ASCP).
• The following reviewers reported no relevant financial relationship: Amy Rockefeller, David Shiembob, Jeffrey Young, Steven Zibrat.

Content Validity

All recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients; AND/OR All scientific research referred to or reported in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

Accreditation Statement

This activity is approved for 2.5 ACCENT credits. Activity ID# 2002. This activity was planned in accordance with ACCENT Standards and Policies.

Successful Completion Statement

Verification of Participation certificates are provided to registered participants based on completion of the activity, in its entirety, and the activity evaluation. For questions regarding continuing education, please email [email protected].