Assessing quality control (QC) results with confidence
Safeguarding the reliability of patient results is essential. Regulatory requirements and ISO 15189 accreditation urge laboratories to progressively review and assess the quality of their measurements. To help with this, a variety of software tools is available in the market. Feeling confident in your QC results is important, however, spending an increasing amount of time and resources to do so is impractical.
One of the most powerful tools to assess analyser performance is the benchmarking or referencing of QC measurements against an external QC database. This ‘externalised’ QC is a precious ally, especially when combined with internal quality control (IQC), patient moving average (XbarM), and additional analyser information – as implemented in the Sysmex quality concept.
Caresphere™ XQC: your inter-laboratory comparison tool
Caresphere™ XQC is a software module of the Caresphere™ Quality Control solution and part of the Sysmex quality concept. It is an inter-laboratory comparison tool that offers the possibility to compare the internal quality control (IQC) results of Sysmex analysers against so-called ‘peer groups’ – groups composed of laboratory sites using the same Sysmex analyser series with the same lot number of QC material and measurement method. You can connect analysers of multiple laboratory sites and disciplines, i.e. haematology, urinalysis, and haemostasis, to Caresphere™ XQC.
Make use of Caresphere™ XQC – it is exceptionally easy
When connected to Caresphere™ XQC, analysers automatically send out their IQC data via a secure connection to the main Caresphere™ XQC server in our global headquarters. Data is collected and processed in near real time, with statistical evaluation done at the end of each day. The data from individual analysers are compared to the global peer data. If applicable, error notifications are sent via email to the laboratory organisation, the Sysmex service organisation, or both. Reports are generated – either monthly or after expiration of the QC material lot – with indicators expressing the performance of the analyser compared to the peer group and with historical overviews showing the performance over time.
If you wish, you can safely log in to your account any time to retrieve latest information whenever you want or need it, for instance before participating in a proficiency test. You can also set up your own tailored peer groups, for example if you are a member of a laboratory chain and want to compare all your affiliated sites to one another.
To find out more about the possibilities Caresphere™ XQC offers you, watch the pre-recorded webinar: https://caresphere-academy.com/explore/webinar-qc-inter-laboratory-comparison-software-carespheretm-xqc-helps-meet-accreditation-0
Benefits at a glance
Key benefits
- Integral part of the Sysmex Digital Services package for all sites using Sysmex QC materials and specific Sysmex analyser models
- One software to connect analysers to – from several lab disciplines and sites
- Effortlessly connects to Sysmex analysers without any additional configuration needed
- Inter-laboratory comparison of results against global or tailored affiliated peer groups
- Near real-time results
- Gain extra confidence that requirements and expectations for accreditation are fulfilled
- ISO/IEC 17043 compliant reporting, with a variety of graphic charts and reports to choose from
Caresphere™ XQC: meaningful statistics
Approximately 19,000 analysers all over the world send data to the Caresphere™ XQC server. This results in peer groups of up to 1,500 analysers, making the outcome of statistical evaluation very robust.
Caresphere™ XQC: certified compliance
ISO/IEC 17043 defines the requirements for providers of competence, development and operation of proficiency testing programmes. Caresphere™ XQC has been certified according to the ISO/IEC 17043 standards by the Japanese Accreditation Body (JAB).
