By Sten Westgard
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this article, the reader will be able to:
- List the reasons why CLIA is changing PT criteria.
- Discuss the changes that may make a difference in PT results.
- Describe the Sigma metric and its utility in PT success
- Discuss the reasons for PT failures in the newly applied CLIA rules.
Sten Westgard is Director of Client Services and Technology for Westgard QC. Sten has presented at conferences and workshops worldwide on topics such as the “Westgard Rules,” IQCP, Six Sigma, method validation, and quality management, and received an Outstanding Speaker award from the AACC for 2008 through 2012, and 2016. Sten is an adjunct faculty member at the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences in Rochester, Minnesota; an adjunct faculty member at the University of Alexandria, Egypt; an adjunct visiting faculty member at Kastruba Medical College of Manipal University, Mangalore, India; and an
honorary visiting professor at Jiao Tong University, Shanghai.
Course Includes
- 1 Article
- 1 Test
- Course Certificate
MLO and Northern Illinois University (NIU), DeKalb, IL, are co-sponsors in offering continuing education units (CEUs) for this issue’s CE article. CEUs or contact hours are granted by the College of Health and Human Sciences at Northern Illinois University, which has been approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® program. Continuing education credits awarded for successful completion of this test are acceptable for the ASCP Board of Registry Continuing Competence Recognition Program. Readers who pass the test successfully (scoring 70% or higher) will receive a certificate for 1 contact hour of P.A.C.E.® credit. The fee for this continuing education test is $20. This test was prepared by Amanda Voelker, MPH, MT(ASCP), MLS, Clinical Education Coordinator, School of Health Studies, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL.
Level of Instruction: Intermediate
Passing scores of 70 percent or higher are eligible for 1 contact hour of P.A.C.E. credit. This test is no longer valid for CEUs after January 2026.
NIU is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E. ® Program.