A Warning About Warning Rules

Are QC Warning Rules still Relevant?

The 2s warning rule of the 1981 Westgard Rules has dictated the warning rule of quality control (QC) for more than 40 years. After all this time, do laboratories still need the warning? While the warning rule has become a firmly entrenched tradition, does the science behind it still hold up? Or are laboratories warning themselves to distraction?

This webinar will explore how QC has evolved in the last 44 years, how the needs of the 20th century are different than what current laboratories require, and how to objectively determine how much QC is needed for any particular method.

Learning Objectives

This webinar will help you:

• Describe the original Westgard Rules, as well as the updated Westgard Sigma Rules
• Examine the analytical sigma metric and how it identifies the risk of method failures and provides guidance on optimal QC rule implementation
• Illustrate where old warnings and new CLIA requirements meet
• Identify other common ways in which labs get the Westgard Rules wrong

Watch on Demand       Download Slides (PDF, 1.9 MB)

For research use only. Not for diagnostic procedures.

Fisher Healthcare is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.™ Program. One P.A.C.E.™ credit-hour will be provided for this complimentary basic level program.

Sten Westgard, MS

Sten Westgard, MS, is the director of client services and technology for Westgard QC, Inc. For over 30 years, Westgard has been managing Westgard Web, publishing, training, and writing hundreds of reports, essays, and applications on quality control, method validation, Six Sigma, and other laboratory management topics.