In: Nursing
CRITICAL THINKING:
3) Why does CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) require proficiency testing for laboratories that are conducting moderate‑ and high‑complexity laboratory testing?
There are approximately 195,000 labs are under CLIA.It ranges from small physician labs to large hospitals.Waived tests are simple tests with small chance of errors- so they are exempt from CLIA rules(as long as testing is performed in strict compliance with the manufacture's instructions.
Over the past decades,technological advances and improved portability of devices have expanded the lab setting environment.Once limited to hospital and reference laboratories ,testing is now routinely performed at the hospital bedside,in ambulances etc.Individuals performing moderate and high complexity testting should have certain level of scientific knowledge and experience,understand how to solve the problems.Failure to accurately perform a test can cause incorrect results to be reported and acted upon by a physician,potentially placing patients at risk for harm.Well trained people and good quality control can help to prevent these problems.So proficiency testing is must for labs to impove its quality and employee experience.