External quality assessment

External Quality Assessment (EQA) for medical and veterinary laboratories

External Quality Assessment (EQA) is a widely used tool to assess the quality of laboratory analyses. It works by sending the same sample to all participating laboratories. Laboratories analyse these samples as if they were analysing patient samples, after which they report their results to us. At the end of the survey, conclusions are drawn based on the analysis of all the results communicated by the laboratories. 

Participation to EQA is mandatory for all licensed Belgian medical laboratories.  We organize EQA programs in several domains of clinical biology and anatomical pathology.

Veterinary laboratories taking part in official programs for animal disease control are also subject to external quality assessments.

This EQA activity is performed under ISO 17043  accreditation, through which we produce adequate samples in sufficient quantities and of good quality and ensure that the laboratories receive the samples on time and that the reports are containing the correct information.

We aim to continuously improve the quality of the laboratory analyses. Due to the rapid evolution in this field, we adapt our external quality assessments on an ongoing basis and evaluate licensed laboratories on the basis of innovations, scientific knowledge, methods and technologies.

EQA’s play an essential role in the continuous training of laboratories. The goal of our programs is rather to be educative than repressive. EQA programs have the following goals:

  • validate the reliability of laboratory analyses
  • verify the reliability of analytical methods
  • inform the laboratories about the weaknesses of their processes.

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EQA programs have become essential to increase confidence in the quality of laboratory testing.  They guarantee consistent and accurate results, which will ultimately, benefit the patient’s management. 

EQA enable laboratories to evaluate the performance of their methods and compare it with that of their peers or all laboratories. The mandatory participation in our EQE allows continuous improvement of analysis results and of their clinical interpretations.

Our team maintains a register of the diagnostic methods applied by the laboratories. On the basis of this information, we can make recommendations with respect to the most appropriate testing methods, taking into account scientific progress and the state of the art.

The medical laboratory thus provides a better diagnosis and guarantees a more adequate care of the patient.

In collaboration with the Commission for Clinical Biology and the Committee for Anatomical Pathology, we periodically expand the number of parameters that are proposed to the medical laboratories:

  • Clinical biology
    • Alcohol
    • Allergy
    • Andrology
    • Cardiac markers
    • Chemistry
    • Coagulation
    • Drugs of abuse
    • Electrophoresis
    • Flow cytometry
    • Hematology
    • Immunoassays
    • Microbiology
    • Non-infectious serology
    • POCT
  • Pathological anatomy
    • Cut coupes
    • Haematoxylin staining
    • Special histological colorations
    • Immunohistochemistry
  • Molecular biology
    • Molecular hematology
    • Molecular oncology (leukemias and solid tumors)
    • Molecular microbiology
    • Next Generation Sequencing

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