Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
The elephant in the room (and how to lead it out): In-clinic laboratory quality challenges.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association
- Year:
- 2014
- Authors:
- Flatland, Bente & Weiser, Glade
- Affiliation:
- Department of Biomedical and Diagnostic Sciences · United States
Plain-English summary
Over the past 30 years, veterinary clinics have gained access to advanced lab equipment for testing pets, but there hasn't been enough oversight to ensure the quality of these tests. It's important for veterinary practices to take responsibility for the accuracy of their test results, which often come from both in-house and outside labs. Staff at these clinics face challenges like not having enough training in quality assurance and control, limited support from equipment suppliers, and the costs associated with maintaining quality standards. To improve this situation, there are suggestions for more training opportunities, better guidelines from veterinary organizations, and a greater role for specialists in ensuring quality. Overall, the quality of laboratory testing in veterinary medicine needs more attention, and hopefully, there will be more support for this important area in the future.
Abstract
Over 30 yr of technological evolution have resulted in sophisticated instrumentation for in-clinic laboratories, yet there is no regulatory oversight of diagnostic testing quality. Long overdue, the veterinary profession must address quality assurance (QA) of diagnostic testing. Each practice must weigh the responsibility for laboratory instrumentation test results that are often a combination of in-clinic and send-out testing. Challenges faced by clinic staff maintaining in-clinic laboratories include lack of training in QA and quality control (QC), lack of emphasis placed on QA/QC by instrument suppliers, QC financial and time costs, and a general lack of laboratory QA/QC support resources in the veterinary community. Possible solutions include increased continuing education opportunities and the provision of guidelines and other resources by national veterinary organizations; specialty certification of veterinary technicians; an increasing role of veterinary clinical pathologists as QA/QC consultants; and development of external quality assessment programs aimed at veterinary practices. The potential exists for animal health companies to lead in this effort by innovating instrument design, providing QC services, and exploiting instrument connectivity to monitor performance. Veterinary laboratory QA/QC is a neglected aspect of the profession. In coming years, veterinarians will hopefully find increased support for this core practice component.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25251431/