American Association for Clinical Chemistry
Better health through laboratory medicine

AACC NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Peter Patterson

(202) 835-8718

1-800-892-1400 ext. 718
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
New Developments in Alternative QC
Washington , D.C. , October 1, 2007 - AACC presents an audioconference on New Developments in Alternative QC.  The audioconference will take place on December 6, 2007, 2:00 - 3:30pm Eastern (US).

 

Laboratories are always looking for less cumbersome and more cost-effective quality control that meets the requirements of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) and also mitigates the risk of harm to the patient.  New standards being developed by government regulators, the laboratory community and diagnostic manufacturers via the Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) could help laboratories realize that goal.  The standards, now in the final stages of development, begin with CLSI document EP22, which provides guidance to manufacturers on the type of risk management information labs need to design new quality control protocols. CLSI document EP23 addresses how labs can develop quality control protocols specific to their analyzers and laboratory environment.

 

The audioconference will feature the following expert speakers:

  • James Nichols, PhD, DABCC, FACB, Chair of the CLSI EP23 Committee, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA
  • W. Greg Cooper, CLS, MHA, Chair of the CLSI EP22 Committee, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., Hercules, CA
  • Judith Yost, MA, MT(ASCP), Director of the Division of Laboratory Services, CMS, Baltimore, MD

They will explain the changes that manufacturers must make to meet the new EP22 standard, how labs can streamline QC, how the EP23 standard encourages best QC practices as well as how the new standards relate to current CLIA requirements and what CLIA’s administrator has to say about advances in QC.

 

Members of the press are invited to participate in the audioconference at no charge and can register by contacting Peter Patterson at the telephone numbers and email address above.
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The American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) is an international scientific/medical society of clinical laboratory professionals, physicians, research scientists and other individuals involved with clinical chemistry and other clinical laboratory science-related disciplines.