Learn about the certifications that highlight the quality and performance of laboratories in Colombia.

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Learn about the certifications that highlight the quality and performance of laboratories in Colombia.

1. Westgard QC’s Six Sigma certification has been implemented globally as a distinctive value, as it allows highlighting good practices in laboratory management.
2. Worldwide there are only 62 laboratories accredited with this level of performance and of these, two laboratories are Colombian.

 

Bogotá, September 2021. In the last two years, laboratories were faced with an unforeseen health crisis which resulted in the creation of new protocols to deal with this virus. With the passage of time, these sanitation practices have been adapted to normality, making these types of entities have action plans in place to provide a service with all the appropriate safety measures. With this in mind, the global industry has created certifications such as Westgard QC’s Six Sigma, which seeks to demonstrate and highlight the performance of these institutions throughout the crisis.

 

 

To date, only 62 entities worldwide have this certification and two of them are Colombian laboratories. Annar Health Technologies, a provider of integrated solutions for the healthcare sector, stated that as of today, laboratories interested in obtaining this certification can count on its support and advice.

 

Magda Romero, quality line manager at Annar Health Technologies highlights, “Westgard QC’s Six Sigma certification is a distinctive added value for any company, as it is an opportunity to highlight laboratories that are applying best practices in their service. Entities wishing to apply must comply with the appropriate methods and trained personnel. In addition, they must have the implementation of controls and accurate results for patient care with an international level of authentication”.

 

Laboratories wishing to join the Westgard Sigma verification program must appoint two to four quality managers per site. Each of them will be responsible for setting objectives, collecting performance data, calculating and evaluating metrics. Likewise, they must design the control procedure in the appropriate manner. In addition, the managers commit to take an online exam to become certified with the American company, which must be renewed after five years.

 

The international organization proposes the following requirements for Colombian companies to maintain accreditation:

1. The results of accreditation must be communicated and fully transparent to the general public.
2. Every six months the laboratory must monitor that their metrics are in line with Sigma accreditation, otherwise they must contact Westgard QC to adapt methods and procedures to the program.
3. If there are any modifications to laboratory processes, Westgard QC must update the program requirements.
4. The program will require you to provide quantitative evidence that the instrument is performing not only adequately, but at a level of four Sigma or above.

 

Westgard QC, the organization that created this certification, is a consulting firm founded in 1992 by pathologist James Westgard, an internationally recognized expert in quality assurance and quality control for healthcare entities. The entity has trained thousands of healthcare professionals in quality control and quality assurance, method validation and other critical laboratory skills. Through this initiative, the company has been charged with developing innovative and targeted strategies designed to transform the way customers do business in the healthcare laboratory sector.

 

 

The company has realized that healthcare entities that have remained committed to process performance and met regulatory standards from the outset should be rewarded. The method used is to award these companies with Six Sigma, an accreditation created to encourage laboratories to define their own quality requirements and to evaluate their performance against their own quality objectives. The credential provides organizations in this sector with a data-driven approach to quantifying their reach.

 

Organizations wishing to begin certification must wait for one year, which is the time required to process the documentation correctly and obtain final approval. This is an example of how Colombian health entities stand out at a global level, since currently of the 62 accredited laboratories in the world with this level of performance, two are in Colombia, meeting the highest quality standards.

 

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