Investigation of the significance of external quality control programs in Medical laboratories of health institutions in İzmir

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the opinions of the participants about External Quality Control (EQC) implemented in medical laboratories, along with examination of the factors affecting them. Method: A cross sectional study is conducted with face-to-face questionnaire on 127 healthcare workers working at medical laboratory in 21 hospitals covers public, private and university hospital in İzmir. The questionnaire consists of 3 parts. In the first part, there are 6 questions about the socio-demographic and working life characteristics of the participants. In the second part, 11 questions about the practices of health institutions regarding EQC programs are included. In the last section, 19 expressions about the importance of EQC and the remaining 10 expressions are related to be applicability of the EQC programs in laboratories. In the analysis of the data, number, percentage, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, median, lowest and highest value are used as distribution indicators, along with Mann Whitney U and independent samples T-test. Results: The average duration of inclusion in the EQC programs of the laboratories was 8 years. The participants have largely made positive evaluations to the expressions about the importance of EQC and the applicability of the EQC program. It is indicated that the participants have lack of in-service training about EQC programs. There is no statistically significant difference between the average score of perception level about the importance of and applicability of EQC programs' expressions, in terms of participants' age, gender (p>0.05). A significant difference was found between institution' working experience and the average score of perception level about the importance of the EQC programs' expressions; there was a significant difference between occupation and the average score of perception level about the applicability of the EQC programs' expressions (p<0.05). The participants (92.7%) specified that a comprehensive national EQC program was required. Conclusion: It is important that medical laboratories participate in EQC programs. It is necessary for the participants to organize training programs by their institutions and support the employees' participation. It is essential that to be formed current and comprehensive performance standards which include all laboratory branches and a national, single-center EQC program and evaluation system structuring will be implemented by decision-makers. Key Words: External Quality Control, Medical Laboratory, Quality in Healthcare and Accreditation Accreditation