In 1948, countries from around the world founded the World Health Organization (WHO) to promote health and serve the vulnerable, with the goal of attaining the highest level of health and well-being of the world’s population.  

This April 7, 2023, the WHO observes its 75th anniversary of World Health Day, and uses the opportunity to recognize the improvements of public health successes over the last seven decades, as well as the current health challenges we face.

IQMH brings together experts in the field of laboratory medicine to elevate confidence in the healthcare system.

The IQMH Proficiency Testing Scientific Committees are composed of physicians, technologists and scientists who provide advice to IQMH regarding the fundamental design of Proficiency Testing surveys and ensure that clinically-relevant selection of challenges and appropriate performance evaluation are developed and implemented each year.

Marked annually on June 9, World Accreditation Day is a global initiative established by the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) to raise awareness of the value of accreditation.

IQMH Proficiency Testing is proud to share this article prepared and authored by Tamara Ashfield, Elizabeth McCready, Mary Shago, Hong Wang, Elizabeth Sinclair‐Bourque, Eva Cappa, Amanda Piche Marolt, Kathy Chun

Practice patterns of prenatal and perinatal testing in Canadian cytogenetics laboratories

ABSTRACT

Objective

To survey patterns of practice in Canadian cytogenetics laboratories and evaluate whether newer technologies have influenced testing algorithms for the detection of common aneuploidies and other genomic imbalances in the prenatal and perinatal settings.

IQMH Proficiency Testing is thrilled to share this article prepared and authored by: Angela C. Rutledge (lead author), Anna Johnston, Dana Bailey, Ronald A. Booth Pamela Edmond, Victor Leung, Kika Veljkovic

Survey of renin and aldosterone testing practices by Ontario laboratories – Providing insight into best practices

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Testing for renin and aldosterone in clinical laboratories is complicated by pre-analytical considerations such as the posture for blood collection and susceptibility to cryoactivation of renin. From an analytical perspective, there are both renin activity and renin mass or concentration assays available. There can also be variability in result reporting practices and the aldosterone-renin ratio (ARR) cut-off applied to screen for primary aldosteronism (PA). The Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare (IQMH) Centre for Proficiency Testing surveyed laboratories on their handling of renin and aldosterone testing to better understand current practices.

Please join us in extending our best wishes to IQMH President, Jeff Sumner, who is retiring on March 31, 2021. Jeff has been leading IQMH since 2017 and has dedicated his career to improving the quality of medical laboratories across the country for many years.