Quality management in the ART laboratory.

Unlike most medical laboratories that play a diagnostic role, laboratories for assisted reproductive technologies, ART laboratories, are involved in the treatment of infertile couples. Handling human gametes and producing human embryos in order to achieve much-sought pregnancies form the key tasks of an ART laboratory. The impact of the activities and the possible risks makes it necessary to ensure the safety and reproducibility of all methods. To achieve and maintain the highest level of patient care and the highest success rates, a quality management system should be implemented. Several guidelines, compiled by professional associations of ART experts, official international standards and quality management models have been developed and issued and can be applied. Irrespective of the choice, establishing a quality management system in an ART laboratory leads to a huge amount of additional work and requires a lot of investment in all kind of areas. However, due to the increased standardization and efficiency of all procedures as well as the improved transparency and traceability of all actions performed, the quality of service provided by the laboratory will improve substantially and the effort will be worthwhile.