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Laboratory News
ISO-15189 for Labs: Get the Scoop in Vancouver this Spring at Two Conferences
ISO-15189 continues to make inroads as an
international standard for medical laboratory accreditation and
reimbursement. Later this spring, a
back-to-back pair of meetings will provide lab directors and pathologists with
an opportunity to learn the latest developments in ISO-15189 guidelines.
On May 30-June 1, 2008, the Quality
Conference Weekend Workshop takes place in Vancouver,
British Columbia just days before
the start of the 14th annual plenary meeting of the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) technical committee 212. This second conference runs from June 2-4, 2008.
Technical committee 212 is responsible for the document ISO 15189:2007, the
fastest-growing international standard for quality and competence of the
medical laboratory.
"Our Quality Conference Weekend Workshop provides
attendees with direct access to key speakers from the ISO Committee, including Dr.
John James (United Kingdom),
Dr. Orna Dreazen (Israel), Dr.
Lucia Berte (US), David Burnett, Ph.D., FRCP (United
Kingdom), Dr. Donald Powers (US)," explained Michael
Noble, M.D., Ph.D., Chair, University of British
Columbia Program Office for Laboratory
Quality Management.
"These speakers will present on a
variety of topics critical to modern medical management, including
accreditation, accreditation toolbox, risk management, laboratory safety, and
internal auditing."
Your Dark Daily Editor, Robert Michel, will
report on the global view of "Laboratory Quality from 10,000 Feet." Other speakers will address a broad range of
laboratory quality issues including patient safety, management streamlining,
LEAN practices, quality indicators, root cause analysis, and FMEA for the
medical laboratory.
The workshop will be of
special interest to senior laboratory administrators and directors, quality
consultants, quality managers, accreditation bodies, laboratory residents, and
senior technologists. ISO-15189
represents a credible effort to develop a quality management system and
standard that will allow any laboratory certified as compliant with ISO-15189
guidelines to compare its operational performance with other laboratories that
are compliant with ISO-15189.
Further, steady
development of ISO-15189 is likely to eventually cause federal and state
government laboratory regulators to begin the process of aligning laboratory accreditation
standards here in the United
States with the standards of ISO-15189. This
is another reason why laboratory directors and pathologists should keep
informed about new developments in ISO-15189.
The back-to-back conferences in Vancouver,
British Columbia later this
spring represent a good opportunity to initiate that process and gain the
understanding needed to guide your lab's strategic planning efforts.
For more information on the Quality Conference
Weekend Workshop and registration contact the workshop chair, Dr. Michael Noble,
at mnoble@interchange.ubc.ca or
Maggie Ma of the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at mma@pathology.ubc.ca.
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