Use of a new set of key performance indicators for evaluating the performance of an in vitro fertilization laboratory in which blastocyst culture and the freeze-all strategy are the primary treatment in patients with in vitro fertilization

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of an in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory using a new set of key performance indicators (KPIs) when the main treatment of IVF patients had been changed. METHODS: Patients who underwent fresh embryo transfer and the freeze-all strategy in August, September, and October 2017 were retrospectively studied to evaluate the performance of an IVF laboratory in September when implantation rate of fresh embryo transfer decreased. KPIs associated with blastocyst culture and the first frozen embryo transfer (FET) cycle in patients with the freeze-all strategy were compared over 3 months. RESULTS: Day 5 usable blastocyst and good quality blastocyst rates, and day 3 usable/good quality embryo rates were not different among the three periods. The implantation rate and KPIs associated with morphological changes in warmed blastocysts in the first FET cycle in patients with the freeze-all strategy were also not different among the periods. CONCLUSIONS: KPIs associated with embryo quality, blastocyst culture, and the pregnancy outcome of the first FET cycle in patients with the freeze-all strategy suggested that performance was unaffected in our IVF laboratory in September. These KPIs might be useful for internal quality control analysis of IVF laboratories.