| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968812 | Clinical Biochemistry | 2015 | 5 Pages |
•Interpretative commenting is integral to clinical biochemistry diagnostic service.•EQA of interpretation useful for education, for training and for ensuring quality.•Utility of EQA for interpretation in improving patient outcomes needs confirmation.•Differences between EQA schemes may reflect lack of consensus on best practice.
The provision of clinical interpretation of results, either verbally or in the printed report, may be considered an integral part of clinical biochemistry diagnostic service. Proficiency testing or external quality assessment (EQA) of such activity may be useful in education, training, continuing professional development and ensuring the quality of such service. Details of the Patient Report Comments Program (RPCProgram) developed by the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA) Chemical Pathology Quality Assurance Programs Pty Ltd (QAP) is described in this review. The program is aimed at pathologists, clinical scientists and trainees. Registered participants are provided a report with case details and a set of clinical biochemistry results at monthly intervals and submit an interpretative comment for the report. Comments received are broken up into components that are translated into common key phrases. An expert panel evaluates the key phrases, classifies them according to appropriateness and drafts a suggested comment, a case summary and a rationale, which are included in a summary report returned to participants.There is considerable diversity in the quality of interpretative comments received from participants of the PRCProgram. The primary purpose of EQA of interpretative commenting is educational self-assessment, and they are recognized as a continuing professional development activity. Whilst there is some evidence for the utility of interpretative comments in improving patient outcomes, evidence for the utility of EQA in improving quality of comments is awaited.
