The application of quality control circle to improve the quality of samples: A SQUIRE-compliant quality-improving study

Since its application in medical institutions in China, quality control circle (QCC) has gained achievements in medical care and thus earned more attention from the administrative department of health. In order to improve the quality of laboratory specimens, we launched a QCC activity to solve the problems and evaluate the effect of it. The data of 30,105 unqualified specimens in our hospital were collected from February to June 2017. After the QCC activity, the data of 43,125 specimens taken from July to December 2017 were collected. The defect rate of the specimens before the QCC activity was 0.98% (297/30105), and after the QCC activity, it was 0.45% (193/43125), showing a significant statistical difference (P < .05). The achievement rate and improvement rate were 108.2% and 54.1%, respectively. After the implementation of QCC, the defect rate of specimens in clinical laboratories was significantly decreased, and the intangible factors were also improved, which demonstrated the positive effects of QCC on the quality control of specimens.