Streamlined Quality Control of Commercial Microbial Identification Systems

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute issued an approved guideline (M50-A) in 2008 outlining what manufacturers and clinical microbiology laboratories had to do in order for laboratories to be eligible for streamlined quality control (QC) of commercial microbial identification systems. This article outlines the history behind this document, presents a description of the process for instituting streamlined QC, and discusses where the big three manufacturers are in helping laboratories reduce required quality control without compromising the reliability of results.