Regional quality assurance for the 1980's, current status and future directions.

The current status of Regional Quality Control Programs has been summarized with respect to results of probes of data derived therefrom. Goals for the decade of the 1980's have been spelled out in the areas of program improvement and investigation of data. Primary areas for probing the data base are: analyte stability in quality control materials, state of the art in analytic precision and its relationship to analytical goals, accuracy assessment in regional programs, and utility of published criteria for establishment of antibiotic resistance or sensitivity by Kirby-Bauer technics.