title: The history of proficiency testing/quality control.
abstract: The history and origins of proficiency testing of clinical laboratories are reviewed. Since the introduction of proficiency testing in the late 1940s, dramatic improvement in laboratory performance has been demonstrated. Nonetheless, the poor performance found two decades earlier was summoned to support the passage of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act of 1967 (CLIA '67).
authors.affiliation: Institute for Clinical Science, Philadelphia, PA 19107.
authors.forename: F W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Sunderman
mesh_terms: D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000592:standards*; D011786:Quality Control; D012015:Reference Standards