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| Often referred to as simply a medical or clinical laboratory, the medical diagnostics lab performs tests on clinical specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient as it pertains to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.<ref name="MedLabTech">{{cite book |title=Textbook of Medical Laboratory Technology |chapter=Chapter 1: Laboratory |author=Sood, R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hpNhAQAACAAJ |pages=01–28 |year=2006 |publisher=Jaypee Brothers Publishers |isbn=818061591X}}</ref> An additional definition is provided by the [[Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments]] (CLIA) program, as "a facility that performs testing on materials derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of any disease or impairment of, or assessment of the health of, human beings."<ref name="CLIACDCLab">{{cite web |url=https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Legislation/CLIA/downloads/HowObtainCertificateofWaiver.pdf |format=PDF |title=CLIA - How to Obtain a CLIA Certificate of Waiver |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=March 2019 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref>
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| At a basic level, the medical laboratory, whether chemistry or pathology, operates like many other analytical testing laboratories. However, there are a few nuances between the medical laboratory and other analytical laboratories. Aside from handling human and animal specimens, one of these differences is the need to have a specific unidirectional workflow. This is intended to both minimize the risk of biohazard contamination and to establish assurance that sample cross contamination is minimized.<ref name="ChenGood09">{{cite journal |url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5806a1.htm |title=Good Laboratory Practices for Molecular Genetic Testing for Heritable Diseases and Conditions |author=Chen, B.; Gagnon, M.; Shahangian, S. et al. |journal=Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report |volume=58 |issue=RR06 |pages=1–29 |date=12 June 2009 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="VianaGood11">{{cite book |title=Wide Spectra of Quality Control |chapter=Chapter 3: Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) for Molecular Based Tests Used in Diagnostic Laboratories |author=Viana, R.V.; Wallis, C.L. |editor=Isin, A. |url=https://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/23728.pdf |format=PDF |pages=29–52 |year=2011 |publisher=InTech |isbn=9789533076836}}</ref> Another major difference concerns the regulations governing the management of patient data (e.g., the [[Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act]] [HIPAA] in the U.S. and General Data Protection Regulation [GDPR] in Europe). This creates a significant challenge not generally experienced by other types of analytical laboratories.
| | ==''Introduction to Quality and Quality Management Systems''== |
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| | | text = This book should not be considered complete until this message box has been removed. This is a work in progress. |
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| | The goal of this short volume is to act as an introduction to the quality management system. It collects several articles related to quality, quality management, and associated systems. |
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| In most parts of the world, the medical laboratory is either attached to a [[hospital]], performing tests on their patients, or acts as a private (or public) laboratory that receives analysis requests and samples from physicians, insurance companies, clinical research sites, and other health clinics for analysis. In cases where a particularly specialized analysis is required and a standard medical laboratory is not equipped to handle it, a research laboratory with the appropriate equipment and expertise may be employed. In other cases, a laboratory may decide it's simply more cost effective to contract more specialized, less common analyses out to specialized medical labs rather than heavily invest in the equipment and training to perform such analyses. Examples include the molecular diagnostics and cytogenetics laboratory, which provide diagnoses and treatment options for genetic or [[cancer]]-related disorders.
| | ;1. What is quality? |
| | :''Key terms'' |
| | :[[Quality (business)|Quality]] |
| | :[[Quality assurance]] |
| | :[[Quality control]] |
| | :''The rest'' |
| | :[[Data quality]] |
| | :[[Information quality]] |
| | :[[Nonconformity (quality)|Nonconformity]] |
| | :[[Service quality]] |
| | ;2. Processes and improvement |
| | :[[Business process]] |
| | :[[Process capability]] |
| | :[[Risk management]] |
| | :[[Workflow]] |
| | ;3. Mechanisms for quality |
| | :[[Acceptance testing]] |
| | :[[Conformance testing]] |
| | :[[Clinical quality management system]] |
| | :[[Continual improvement process]] |
| | :[[Corrective and preventive action]] |
| | :[[Good manufacturing practice]] |
| | :[[Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act of 1987]] |
| | :[[Quality management]] |
| | :[[Quality management system]] |
| | :[[Total quality management]] |
| | ;4. Quality standards |
| | :[[ISO 9000]] |
| | :[[ISO 13485]] |
| | :[[ISO 14000|ISO 14001]] |
| | :[[ISO 15189]] |
| | :[[ISO/IEC 17025]] |
| | :[[ISO/TS 16949]] |
| | ;5. Quality in software |
| | :[[Software quality]] |
| | :[[Software quality assurance]] |
| | :[[Software quality management]] |
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| Like other analytical laboratories, regulations, laws, and standards typically drive how vital aspects of the laboratory operate. In the United States, clinical laboratories are primarily regulated by the [[United States Department of Health and Human Services|Department of Health and Human Services]]. Inside that infrastructure are sub-entities like the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]] (CDC) and the [[Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services]] (CMS) to apply standards and regulations through their respective Laboratory Quality Assurance and Standardization Programs, and the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.<ref name="DHHS_HHS19">{{cite web |url=https://www.hhs.gov/about/agencies/orgchart/index.html |title=HHS Organizational Chart |publisher=U.S. Department of Health & Human Services |date=31 December 2019 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="CDCLaboratory17">{{cite web |url=https://www.cdc.gov/labstandards/ |title=Laboratory Quality Assurance and Standardization Programs |publisher=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |date=25 July 2017 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="CMS_CLIA">{{cite web |url=https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/legislation/clia |title=Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) |publisher=Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |date=16 November 2021 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref> Although generally not as strict as the regulations regarding pharmaceutical and diagnostic manufacturers, the regulations affecting the medical laboratory nonetheless act as a significant hurdle to managing the overall operations of the laboratory, from acquiring customers and samples, to testing, reporting results, and handling billing for the completed tests.
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| Internationally, regulatory bodies vary from country to country. However, organizations like the not-for-profit Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)<ref name="CLSIAbout">{{cite web |url=https://clsi.org/about/ |title=About CLSI |publisher=Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref> and associations like the Research Quality Association (RQA)<ref name="RQAAbout">{{cite web |url=https://www.therqa.com/about/ |title=What is RQA? |publisher=Research Quality Association |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref> exist to promote a more global approach to regulations and guidance affecting medical diagnostic and research laboratories. Additionally, a set of Good Clinical Laboratory Practice standards—originally developed in 2002 and since adopted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and research institutions worldwide—provide guidance on implementing laboratory practices that are critical for laboratory operations around the world.<ref name="RQAGCLP">{{cite web |url=https://www.therqa.com/resources/publications/booklets/good-clinical-laboratory-practice-booklet/ |title=Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) |publisher=Research Quality Association |date=January 2012 |accessdate=18 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="GCLPEzzelle">{{cite journal |title=Guidelines on Good Clinical Laboratory Practice - Bridging Operations between Research and Clinical Research Laboratories |author=Ezzelle, J.; Rodriguez-Chavez, I.R.; Darden, J.M. et al. |journal=Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=18–29 |year=2008 |doi=10.1016/j.jpba.2007.10.010 |pmid=18037599 |pmc=PMC2213906}}</ref>
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| ==References==
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