EQALM

The European Organisation for External Quality Assurance Providers in Laboratory Medicine (EQALM) is an umbrella organization for European EQA organizers in laboratory medicine. EQALM has as its goals: a. To provide a forum for co-operation and exchange of knowledge on quality-related matters especially with regard to external quality assessment/assurance (EQA) programmes in Europe. b. To promote the quality of laboratory medicine and the safety of patient care in general and in particular within Europe. c. To represent the external quality assessment in Laboratory Medicine providers at European level vis-à-vis political, professional, scientific and other bodies, including patients’ organizations. EQALM promotes activities that may contribute to the exchange of knowledge on quality-related matters especially with regard to EQA programmes. Examples of activities are: a. Organising annual Symposium with scientific and practical themes b. Issuing scientific publications c. Developing EQA projects. d. Representing Laboratory Medicine EQA activities within other organisations and networks. EQALM is actively involved in various scientific and educational areas, and have the following Working groups: EQA for Point-of-care Testing (POCT), Central database, survey frequency, haematology, haemostasis, immunohaematology, immunology, infection diagnostics, performance specifications, and virtual microscopy. Task and finish groups: the Manufacturing of commutable calibrators and quality control material for standardisation and post-market surveillance of IVD tests (COMET) project, and ISO/IEC 17043 accreditation standard. Cooperations: EQALM also cooperates with other organisations: ICHCLR, JCTLM, EFLM, IFCC, EA-EUROLAB-EURACHEM. Through these initiatives, we strive to enhance the accuracy, reliability, and impact of laboratory testing, ultimately contributing to improved patient care.