Effectiveness of the National Quality Control Program in Mycology of Argentina and performance evaluation of participating laboratories.

Effectiveness of the National Quality Control Program in Mycology of Argentina and performance evaluation of participating laboratories. Rev Argent Microbiol. 2020 Sep 30;: Authors: Mazza M, Davel GO, Refojo N, Taverna CG, Bueno NS, Canteros CE, Córdoba SB, Rivas MC, Joffre MC, Isla G, Abrantes RA, Hevia AI, Toranzo A, Viale M, Members of the Mycology Quality Control Program (PNCCM) Abstract The National Quality Control Program in Mycology (PNCCM) of Argentina was established in 1996 to improve the quality of the mycological diagnosis, to help establish and to set up standardized procedures and continuous training of laboratory staff. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of the PNCCM in the 1996-2018 period. Data from the National Mycology Laboratory Network (NMLN) and PNCCM database was used to estimate the increase in the number of controlled laboratories and jurisdictions, the percentage of participation, the improvement in the quality of results and the adherence to the program. Satisfaction surveys were performed to assess user satisfaction. The number of controlled laboratories increased from 29 to 146; participation increased from 49% to 93% and general adherence was 72% in the evaluated period (1996-2018). Improvement in the quality of the results was 15% for low complexity samples; 7% for intermediate complexity samples and 14% for the identification of high complexity strains. Up to 84% of the users consid...
Source: Revista Argentina de Microbiologia - Category: Microbiology Tags: Rev Argent Microbiol Source Type: research