Troubleshooting with Quality Control Data in Medical Laboratories for Beginners

Troubleshooting is a systematic approach designed to correct problems that may occur with patient samples, instruments, operating an analyzer, handling, reagents and quality control material.

The first step in troubleshooting is gathering information about an incident. This could be, for example, undesired behavior of an instrument or the lack of an intended function. Other important information includes concurrent symptoms and specific circumstances that may be needed to reproduce the problem.

Once it is clear what the problem is and how to reproduce it, unneeded components in the system are removed to determine the cause. In this way, incompatibilities and external reasons can be ruled out.

If the problem persists, the main causes that occur are now checked. However, this depends on the current situation and the experience of the examiner. It is also possible to consult the documentation of the instrument or reagent in question, as well as support databases and search engines.

After frequently occurring causes have been ruled out, a systematic and logically structured process is carried out in which the expected function of the system is tested. For example, the split-half approach to troubleshooting is used: If a problem can be traced back to a number of components, then the first half of these components is tested first. If there are no problems, half of the remaining components are checked, and so on. In this way, the search is quickly narrowed down to the essential parts until the problem is identified. This method can save a lot of time when testing numerous components.

Once the cause is known, the problem can be repaired, or a component can be adjusted or replaced. A success is given when the problem can no longer be reproduced and the function works as planned.

This webinar is dedicated to learn what kind of problems may occur during the analytical phase in the medical laboratory and how to solve them with the help of a proper QC procedure.

 

Learning Objectives