A Unique Resource Bridging the Gap for Current and Aspiring Leaders - Innovative certificate program fills laboratory management gaps in residency training. Download Document
American Proficiency Institute (API) has integrated the latest technology with proficiency testing to enhance the blood cell identification experience. The API ImageViewer™ simulates a microscope, allowing laboratories to view a virtual image of the selected cells as well as the surrounding fields. Download Document
The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) released a list of specific tests or procedures that are commonly ordered but not always appropriate in pathology and laboratory medicine as part of the Choosing Wisely® campaign, an initiative of the ABIM Foundation. The list identifies five targeted, evidence-based recommendations that can support conversations between patients and physicians about what care is really necessary. Download Document
ASCP is a partner on a grant that will examine resident training on how to assist clinicians with the appropriate use of the powerful too of genomics. Download Document
Using their own laboratory information system (LIS) or middleware, laboratories may now transmit their proficiency testing results directly to the American Proficiency Institute (API), a process that revolutionizes external qualit control measures for clinical laboratories. Download Document
Five college students from across the country were awarded a medical laboratory science scholarship from the American Proficiency Institute (API). Download Document
In celebration of the fifth anniversary of the American Proficiency Institute (API) Scholarship Program, API will award five scholarships worth $10,000 to medical laboratory science students in 2012. Download Document
The Joint Commission announced the launch of Lab Central Connect™ for accredited laboratories. The portal is designed to help Joint Commission-accredited laboratories centralize storage of important survey-related documents, as well as improve safety and quality by helping to maintain continuous compliance with Joint Commission standards. The portal could also be useful during an organization’s Intracycle Monitoring process, which occurs in between on-site accreditation surveys. Full Story
President of the American Proficiency Institute, Daniel C. Edson, met with former President William J. Clinton, now leader of the William J. Clinton Foundation at the ASCP Annual Meeting and WASPaLM XXVI World Congress. President Clinton has devoted significant time and resources into strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world, including expanding access to care and treatment of malaria. Download Document
Influenza A H1N1 has contributed to significant morbidity and mortality, yet very few studies on changes in hematologic and biochemical markers have been reported. Download Document
Just in time for the cold and flu season, the American Proficiency Institute (API) has posted an educational commentary on advances in rapid identification of influenza. The topical commentary is just one of over a hundred free continuing education program available to API Paperless Proficiency Testing participants. Download Document
Campylobacter is a leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. To assist laboratory professionals, the American Proficiency Institute (API) has posted an educational commentary describing the methods used to detect Campylobacter species. Download Document
Clinicians and laboratory professionals need to be aware of the possibility of avian influenza A (H5N1) infection, and they must understand and recognize the indications for laboratory testing. Full Story
Influenza antigen detection test kits can provide results in 30 minutes and are used frequently for the detection of seasonal influenza infections. Full Story
Identification of the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus requires emergency use authorized (EUA) molecular reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Full Story
Laboratory professionals need to understand the prevalence of influenza in the community, clinical manifestations, and test characteristics for the proper used of rapid diagnostic tests. Full Story
Expanding its library of learning programs, the American Proficiency Institute (API) is offering an educational commentary on biochemical markers of cardiac function for its customers. This commentary is one of over a hundred free continuing education programs available to API Paperless Proficiency Testing participants. Download Document
Proficiency testing (PT) verifies a laboratory’s analytical performance against other laboratories performing the same analysis. Full Story
Quality improvement in health care has a long history that includes such epic figures as Ignaz Semmelweis, the nineteenth-century obstetrician who introduced hand washing to medical care, and Florence Nightingale, the English nurse who determined that poor living conditions were a leading cause of the deaths of soldiers at army hospitals. Full Story
The Michigan Society for Clinical Laboratory Science bestowed on Daniel C. Edson its 2011 Board of Directors Award in appreciation for “his devotion and invaluable services” to Michigan medical laboratory scientists. Mr. Edson is President of the American Proficiency Institute, based in Traverse City, Michigan. Download Document
Laboratory medical scientists can raise their income by 14 percent if they become certified, according to the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) 2010 Wage Survey. Non-certified staff level histotechnicians (HT), for example, reported that they make on average $19.60 per hour, but the average wage for certified HT is $22.98, a 14.7 percent differential. Download Document
According to the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s 2011 Vacancy Survey of U.S. Clinical Laboratories, blood banking and transfusion medicine laboratories are experiencing the highest overall vacancy rate at more than 11 percent. Histology departments also struggle with staffing, with a reported vacancy rate of almost 10 percent. Download Document
By analyzing and comparing results from a 2008 proficiency test (PT) event to results from a 2003 PT event, we assessed whether laboratories’ abilities to detect Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 had improved in the intervening 5 years. Download Document
The objective of this study was to assess laboratories’ ability to detect or rule out the presence of four common food pathogens: Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter spp. To do this, qualitative proficiency test data provided by one proficiency test provider from 1999 to 2007 were examined. The annual and cumulative 9-year percentages of false-negative and false-positive responses were calculated. Download Document
This study assesses proficiency test (PT) performance in detecting and identifying malaria parasites and examines malaria screening practices in laboratories in the United States. Download Document