title: Twenty-five years of accomplishments of the College of American Pathologists Q-probes program for clinical pathology.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  During the past 25 years, the College of American Pathologists' (CAP) Q-Probes program has been available as a subscription program to teach laboratorians how to improve the quality of clinical laboratory services.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the accomplishments of the CAP Q-Probes program.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed Q-Probes participant information, study data and conclusions, author information, and program accomplishments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During this time 117 Q-Probes clinical pathology studies were conducted by 54 authors and coauthors, 42,899 laboratories enrolled from 24 countries, 98 peer-reviewed publications occurred and were cited more than 1600 times, and the studies were featured 59 times in CAP Today. The most frequent studies (19) focused on turnaround times for results or products at specific locations (emergency department, operating room, inpatients, outpatients), specific diseases (acute myocardial infarction, urinary tract), availability for specific events such as morning rounds or surgery, a specific result (positive blood cultures), and a method on how to use data for improvement (stat test outliers). Percentile ranking of study participants with better performance provided benchmarks for each study with attributes statistically defined that influenced improved performance. Other programs, such as an ongoing quality improvement program (Q-Tracks), a laboratory competency assessment program, a pathologist certification program, and an ongoing physician practice evaluation program (Evalumetrics), have been developed from Q-Probes studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CAP's Q-Probes program has made significant contributions to the medical literature and has developed a worldwide reputation for improving the quality of clinical pathology services worldwide.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Pathology, State University of New York Downstate, Brooklyn (Dr Howanitz); the Department of Pathology, West Virginia University Health Science Center Morgantown (Dr Perrotta); Surveys Department, College of American Pathologists, Northfield, Illinois (Ms Bashleben); the Department of Pathology, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan (Dr Meier); the Department of Pathology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois (Dr Ramsey); the Department of Pathology, New Mexico VA Health Care System, Albuquerque (Dr Massie); Northern Pathology Services, Grand Rapids, Minnesota (Dr Zimmerman); and the Department of Pathology, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC (Dr Karcher).
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Howanitz
authors.forename: Peter L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Perrotta
authors.forename: Christine P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Bashleben
authors.forename: Frederick A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.forename: Glenn E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Ramsey
authors.forename: Larry W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Massie
authors.forename: Roberta L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: Donald S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Karcher
mesh_terms: D002568:Certification; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000266:history* / Q000592:standards; D010338:Pathology, Clinical / Q000266:history* / Q000592:standards; D011361:Professional Competence; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000266:history; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States