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Biomedical subjects

L M Berte

Publications and source records attributed to L M Berte.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Quality pays--in every business!

For the past few years, blood banks within and outside of hospitals have been required to develop a documented quality assurance/quality improvement program to comply with regulator guidelines and accreditation standards. Concerns have been raised that the cost of compliance could exceed any plausible return on this investment. Unfortunately, little data exist in blood bank literature or are currently being captured to support or refute this contention. This article describes an approach for capturing the cost of quality based on models from the manufacturing industry, suggests how blood banks could document the cost and benefit of their quality efforts and presents some unpublished data on the impact of tracking the cost of poor quality in one blood bank.

Blood Banks↗
PubMed1997

Tools for improving quality in the transfusion service.

The initiation of testing for antibody to HIV in the donor blood supply opened a new era of operational, safety, and legal complications for facilities in which transfusion medicine is practiced. Mounting dissatisfaction with increasing incidents of questionable release of blood forced regulators to take tougher actions. Blood banks were surprised and concerned that their practices could no longer effectively ensure blood safety. Concurrently, US businesses and manufacturers were looking for new answers regarding the question of improved quality in goods and services. The progression from quality control to quality systems is reviewed. In addition, where transfusion medicine is today, and where it has yet to go, as well as the tools available to make the transition, are discussed.

Blood Banks↗
PubMed1995

A quality system for transfusion medicine ... and beyond.

When more than 500 serious blood banking problems arose in a recent 12-month period, the FDA and AABB knew it was time for a change. The quality system they developed can help the staff of any lab section stand up to the toughest inspection.

Accreditation↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Integrating quality management into clinical systems: tools for achieving clinical integration.

This article describes the use of quality systems as a tool for managers of health-care clinical services to establish a common framework across the different disciplines in the continuum of care. Quality systems used internationally in the manufacturing and service sectors are applicable to multidisciplinary clinical systems management because the essential elements of quality are universal. These elements have been redefined into health-care terminology and can be used by clinical systems managers as a basis for implementing a quality system. The structure for documents in a quality system also has been adapted to health care and allows for a common set of quality policies and processes to unify the different clinical services. By using a consistent quality management approach and documentation, managers can transcend technical operational differences and ensure effective clinical integration.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗