EQAProgrammen

EQAProgrammen, short for external quality assessment programs, are organized schemes to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of laboratory testing by providing blind or unknown samples to participating laboratories. Through comparison of results against reference values or peer groups, EQA helps identify biases, systematic errors, and variability across laboratories.

Participation occurs across clinical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, molecular diagnostics, pathology and related fields. A typical cycle involves dispatching samples, labs performing analyses, returning results, and the program performing statistical analyses and issuing performance reports, often with z-scores or target-to-peer group comparisons.

EQA programs support quality assurance, accreditation, and regulatory compliance, and many accreditation bodies require participation in relevant schemes. Benefits include improved diagnostic accuracy, standardization, and benchmarking; limitations include the potential non-representativeness of samples, commutability issues, and possible delays in reporting or feedback.

Examples of providers include CAP Proficiency Testing in the United States, UK National External Quality Assessment Service (UK NEQAS), and European networks such as EMQN. International standards and guidelines influence EQA design and interpretation; ISO 13528 addresses statistical methods for proficiency testing, while ISO 15189 and ISO 17025 relate to quality management systems that incorporate EQA participation.

See also: proficiency testing, external quality assessment, accreditation.