[Quality control in the physician's laboratory].

All measures in quality assurance, including quality control, aim at minimizing and detecting errors in the clinical laboratory. Quality control is performed by using internal quality control material and by participating in external quality assessment schemes. These measures for quality assurance are an essential part of the new index of clinical tests, issued by the federal department for internal affairs on 1 January 1994. An agreement has been signed by the representatives of the associations performing laboratory analyses (hospitals, physicians, private laboratories) and by the health insurances, saying that internal as well as external quality control will be mandatory in Switzerland beginning 1 July 1995. The FMH is now asked to supply the health insurances with a list of physicians performing laboratory analyses until 1 July. For physicians who will not have registered neither with the respective professional organization nor one of the health care insurances by July 1995, the reimbursements will be reduced.