title: Improving quality in the preanalytical phase through innovation, on behalf of the European Federation for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Working Group for Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE).
abstract: It is now undeniable that laboratory testing is vital for the diagnosis, prognostication and therapeutic monitoring of human disease. Despite the many advances made for achieving a high degree of quality and safety in the analytical part of diagnostic testing, many hurdles in the total testing process remain, especially in the preanalytical phase ranging from test ordering to obtaining and managing the biological specimens. The Working Group for the Preanalytical Phase (WG-PRE) of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) has planned many activities aimed at mitigating the vulnerability of the preanalytical phase, including the organization of three European meetings in the past 7 years. Hence, this collective article follows the previous three opinion papers that were published by the EFLM WGPRE on the same topic, and brings together the summaries of the presentations that will be given at the 4th EFLM-BD meeting "Improving quality in the preanalytical phase through innovation" in Amsterdam, 24-25 March, 2017.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9523-9054
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lippi
authors.forename: Geoffrey S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Baird
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Banfi
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bölenius
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cadamuro
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Church
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Cornes
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dacey
authors.forename: Antoine
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guillon
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.forename: Mads
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nybo
authors.forename: Lakdasa Devananda
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Premawardhana
authors.forename: María
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salinas
authors.forename: Sverre
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sandberg
authors.forename: Robbert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Slingerland
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stankovic
authors.forename: Sylte Marit
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Sverresdotter
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vermeersch
authors.forename: Ana-Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Simundic
mesh_terms: D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000592:standards*; D002624:Chemistry, Clinical / Q000592:standards; D064790:Clinical Laboratory Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards; D003226:Congresses as Topic; D005060:Europe; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D062069:Inventions; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D018962:Phlebotomy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012955:Societies, Medical; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards