Establishing Best Practices in Quality Control Management

Quality control management in laboratories has become more complex in recent years. While juggling compliance requirements and navigating budget concerns have always been pain points for lab managers, new challenges—such as higher-than ever volumes of tests and supply chain uncertainty—must be addressed. The post-pandemic economy suffers from both an unprecedented reduction in workforce and increased cost for employment of lab staff (Wolski 2022), and many laboratories today are not only inundated with tests but with increasingly shorter requested turnaround times (TATs), resulting in an even greater impact on reduced staff numbers. A focus on streamlining QC practices in the lab can result in less pressure on staff and increased confidence in the reliability and medical usefulness of test results.