Hi chaps
Chris is absolutely right!
The 'A' in 'QA' is always 'assurance' - you are assuring quality by your QA
see OED.com meaning 3. 'A positive declaration intended to give confidence'
The 'A' in EQA is always 'assessment' - we probe and examine the state of the art of analysis
see OED.com meaning 5b. Educ. The process or means of evaluating academic work; an examination or test. Cf. continuous assessment
IQC must be 'control' because it is derived from process control in manufacturing - you are controlling quality through a sampling process and applying rules to reject bad products in real time
EQA is retrospective and is concerned with comparability and 'trueness' (accuracy in oldspeak)
IQC is real time and is primarily concerned with imprecision
Mix them up at your peril!
IQC and EQA are utterly different in concept, require different design, independent materials and separate monitoring as separate elements of a Quality System.
It is amazing after 40 years of EQA that people (even esteemed editors of journals, professional bodies etc) get this wrong! Even lab tests on line had this mixed up until I corrected it!
Come to a Roadshow or the ACB National Training Course No 3 to find out more!
By the way : EQC is not a real term in my vocabulary, but a form of it could (does?) exist where an analyser transmits real time results on an externally derived control sample back to a central (web) server which calculates imprecision / bias on the fly on the individual machine relative to all users of that machine and reagent/calibrator set regionally, nationally or globally, and sends the data back for the operator to review and act on in real time.
Hope this helps!
Well done Chris for giving me an opportunity for another rant - it does me good!
Cheers
Jonathan Middle
-----Original Message-----
From: Royle Chris <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 09:58:05 +0100
Subject: Semantics
Dear all,
What do members understand by the abbreviation EQA?
My understanding (perhaps to be corrected) is External Quality Assessment,
and indeed, a copy of BS EN 14136:2004 ("Use of external quality assessment
schemes in the assessment of the performance of in vitro examination
procedures" ) that we have just bought appears to confirm this.
I am just reviewing a Registration Portfolio for one of our Trainee BMS, and
that documentation refers to EQA as External Quality Assurance.
I was taught that EQA (External Quality assessment) + IQC (Internal Quality
Control ) = are important elements in a Quality Assurance system.
IMHO, this is more than just semantics. It would seem to imply a lack of
understanding.
And whilst on the subject, how many people still refer to External Quality
Control..............?
Best wishes,
Chris
Chris Royle
Laboratory Manager,
Clinical Biochemistry and Haematology Departments,
Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust,
Royal Brompton Hospital,
Sydney Street,
LONDON
SW3 6NP
phone: + 44 (0)20 7351 8413
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