title: 40 years external quality assessment--what have we achieved? A personal view.
abstract: The present report deals with a personal interaction with different external quality assessment (EQA) programmes over the past four decades for different groups of analytes. The effects of national and international legislation and standardization, as well as certification and accreditation standards have also been taken into account. The effects and limitations of reference method procedures and reference materials are also discussed as are the trends in accuracy and precision, the latter especially in terms of automation and decentralization of laboratory analyses. The effects seen are not only positive and, often, legislation and commercial interests are in conflict with the primary aims of EQA and standardization.
authors: William Graham
authors: WG
authors: Wood
mesh_terms: D064790:Clinical Laboratory Services / Q000592:standards*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care