Abstract: (5417 Views)
Background: Quality assurance is a prevention-oriented system that can be used to
improve the quality of care, increase productivity and monitor the performance
management in clinical laboratories. ISO 9001: 2000 requirements are a collection of
management and technical systems designed to implement quality assurance and monitor
performance management in organizations.
Methods: A checklist was prepared to monitor the preanalytical, analytical and
postanalytical stages of laboratory performance management in 16 areas and all
laboratory activities in 14 of the clinical laboratories of the Tehran University of Medical
Sciences (TUMS) hospitals. Collected data were stored and statistically analyzed using
SPSS software.
Results: The best performance, in which 77.73% of quality assurance indicators were
observed, was found in Sina Hospital. However, only 57.56% of these indicators were
fulfilled at Farabi Hospital, with the lowest-level performance among the clinical
laboratories of TUMS hospitals. The highest level of compliance with quality assurance
indicators was in the hematology departments and for facility demands in management
areas. Overall, quality assurance indicators were appropriately followed in only 7% of the
clinical laboratories.
Conclusion: The average quality assurance observation rate in the clinical laboratories
studied was 67.22%, which is insufficient and must be remedied with stricter
enforcement of the ISO 9001: 2000 regulations.