Antwerpen 2012 conference "quality in medical laboratories"
Quality in the spotlight Conference at the Elzenveld in Antwerp, Belgium
29th and 30th of March 2012 with focus on
ERROR BUDGET and RISK MANAGEMENT for LABORATORY MEDICINE This is the 16th conference on quality in medical laboratories in a row.
With the Antwerp meetings that began in 1995, a new concept of exchanging and building ideas was introduced. These successful meetings have been copied in several countries (e.g., Italy, France, Spain and recently in SlovakRepublic). After the Stockholm statements (focused on analytical quality and the hierarchy of analytical information) tried to link the field of laboratory medicine to GUM and VIM, something is still missing. In a way, the Antwerp statements of 2000 answered as well as extended Stockholm’s information by explicitly including medical aspects as part of the quality definition. Thereafter the NEXUS concept was introduced as the ultimate definition, disregarding the current state-of-the-art.However, in a formal way, the ultimate goals were defined -- zero order in any analytical phase and an acceptable analytical variation of one-fourth of the intra-individual biological variation. At the Antwerp 2009 meeting, the customer, physician, and patient were recognized and a new class of quality items was introduced and discussed.
Now it is time to bring all these concepts together into one paramount model (similar to the Baldrige or EFQM models) for laboratory medicine. Of course the general models mentioned can and are being applied to departments of laboratory medicine, since they contain useful information and medical laboratories can be characterized in the same overall way as any other organization. The beauty of these models is that they cover each and every aspect of any organization. Applying the model and its scoring system reveals the strong as well as the weak points of that laboratory organization. When relevant quality indicators are used, benchmarking and comparisons can be made with the larger organization (e.g., the hospital, other departments within the hospital and other laboratories).
The Westgard Quality Award will again be presented to an outstanding scientist in the field of TQM in medical laboratories.
Speakers such as Dr. C. van Campenhout, Prof. J.C. Libeer, Prof. S. Ehrmeyer, Dr. H.M.J. Goldschmidt, Prof. J.O. Westgard and many others will guarantee an inspiring and thought-provoking program.
Conference address: Conference Center ‘t Elzenveld Lange Gasthuisstraat 45 B-2000 Antwerp, Belgium
