"Westgard Rules"

Best Practices for "Westgard Rules"

So we've catalogued some of the worst abuses of "Westgard Rules." What about the best uses? What's the best way to use "Westgard Rules" - and When, Why, How and Who, too? Here is a list of 12 practices to make your use of "Westgard Rules" better.

Abuses, Misuses, and In-excuses

WARNING! You may not want to read this article. It's a sobering list of all the common mistakes made by manufacturers and laboratories when they design, implement and interpret the "Westgard Rules." As it turns out, when your software or instrument or LIS claims to have "Westgard Rules," it might not be true or even useful. And if you see a claim that they've "modified" the rules to make them better, be afraid.

Ten Ways to do the Wrong QC Wrong

Think you're the only one who doesn't do QC perfectly? You're not alone. In this article, we look at numerous examples from readers, where the best intentions have gone astray. By seeing how QC practices go wrong in the real world, we can learn what we need to do better.

Multirules and QC Validator

A discussion of how multirule procedures are implemented in the QC Validator program. These answers also apply to the latest version of our QC Design software, EZ Rules 3.

Also included is a discussion of what a "run" is and how to define it for today's modern random access analyzers. Plus patient averages and moving averages. (Scroll down past the first section)