Utility of process capability indices in assessment of quality control processes at a clinical laboratory chain

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the utility of the process capability indices C (p) and C (pk) for assessing the quality control processes at chain laboratory facilities. METHODS: In April 2020, the minimum C (p) and C (pk) values for 33 assays of a laboratory chain with 19 facilities were collected for further analysis and a total of 627 datasets (C (p) and C (pk)) were compared. In addition, standard values for C (p) and C (pk), defined as the lowest of the top 20%, were obtained for comparison and the indices were used to determine whether precision or trueness improvements were required for the corresponding assay. RESULTS: A total of 627 datasets of 33 assays from 19 laboratory facilities were collected for further analysis. Based on the C (p) results, 329 (52.5%), 211 (33.7%), 65 (10.3%), and 22 (3.5%) were rated as excellent, good, marginal, and poor, respectively. While the corresponding results for C (pk) were 300 (47.8%), 216 (34.4%), 79 (12.6%), and 32 (5.1%). In addition, it was noteworthy that eight (C (p) criteria) and six assays (C (pk) criteria) were rated as excellent or good at all 19 facilities. Comparison of the process capability indices at the Jinan KingMed Center with the standard values revealed that total protein, albumin, and urea showed trueness individual improvement, precision individual improvement, and precision common improvement, respectively, while the results of other assays were stable. CONCLUSION: Process capability indices are useful for evaluating the quality control procedures in laboratory facilities and can help improve the precision and trueness of laboratory tests.