The Importance of Third Party Controls - LT324USA MAR 2014 | Page 4

Quality Control

The Importance of
Third Party Controls in
helping to detect errors
within the laboratory

Detecting...
instrument faults

A real life laboratory situation
1)  he laboratory used the reagent manufacturer’s QC for all
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The following case studies highlight the importance of
third party controls and how they can be used to help
identify instrument, reagent and procedural errors
which if undetected could lead to the reporting of
incorrect patient results.

Bilirubin testing. The assay appeared to be working well,
with QC results within range
2)  hey also ran Randox Acusera Assayed Chemistry
T
Premium Plus Control and the results reported were
approximately 25% low to target
3)  he laboratory contacted the Randox Technical Support
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team, who provided them with some PT samples
4)  s suspected, results for these samples were 25% lower
A
than expected
5)  urther investigations confirmed the low results were due
F
to an instrument fault

Conclusion
Randox Third Party Controls identified an instrument fault that
in-kit controls from the reagent manufacturer failed to detect.