EQAS Program User Guide - QCNet

CHAPTER3Getting StartedIn This ChapterOverview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Order Your EQAS Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18EQAS Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Lab Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Method Registration Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23EQAS Method Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25EQAS Documentation (Document Pack: For Paper Customers Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26Specimen Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Assaying the Samples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30OverviewBio-Rad EQAS Programs run in twelve-month cycles. Each cycle consists of twelve numbered samples. Forconvenience, all lyophilized samples for the entire cycle are provided at the same time. The twelve lyophilizedsamples comprising a cycle are derived as replicates from four unique batches.Note: The liquid hematology samples are provided in multiple shipments of three samples each.You will receive a specimen package containing the samples for testing and a Document Pack (or the EQASeForms 2 software) for each cycle. These items are sent to you separately.Samples are tested every month. You have an option of submitting your test results electronically(EQAS Online, EQAS Mobile, EQAS eForms 2 software), on paper (Results Forms), by fax or via post. Acoding system is used by the Bio-Rad EQAS database for method registrations associated with each test.Registered results received at Bio-Rad by 20.00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) on the Sample Due Date areincluded in the statistical analysis. All submitted results for an analyte are grouped according to comparators(peer, method, and mode/all results) and a robust statistical analysis based on ISO 13528 is performed.Bio-Rad Laboratories 17