Proficiency testing experience with College of American Pathologists' programs at a university hospital in China from 2007 to 2011.

CONTEXT

The first-class hospital laboratories are required to participate in a proficiency testing (PT) program by the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China. The College of American Pathologists (CAP) PT programs have increasingly become laboratories' preferred choices because of the well-prepared specimens, more comprehensive programs, scientific evaluation, and useful educational opportunities involved.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the PT performance of our laboratory from 2007 to 2011 through the selected analytes and tests.

DESIGN

The PT results of 22 commonly performed tests in 15 events were evaluated. The rates of unacceptable results for all analytes and tests during the 5-year study period were compared with χ (2) test. Reasons for all unacceptable results were sorted into 8 groups.

RESULTS

A total of 13 of 22 analytes and tests (59.1%) achieved full scores (100%), whereas 6 analytes and tests failed to reach the goal of getting a score of 80% or higher in PT. Seen from the relative distance of the results from the target as a percentage of allowed deviation, the performance of some analytes was excellent, including albumin, amylase, lactate dehydrogenase, potassium, protein, total, uric acid, red blood cell, white blood cell, and hemoglobin. Rates of unacceptable results for all analytes demonstrated a trend of decline. The top 3 reasons for unacceptable results were identification errors in morphologic tests, specimen problems, and technical problems (25.74%, 23.76%, and 14.85%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

The PT performance demonstrated a trend of improvement from 2007 to 2011. Proficiency testing contributed to the improvement of laboratory performance, especially the promotion of better patient care.