CLSI Partners With the CDC

For the past four years, CLSI has been partnering with the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a cooperative agreement intended to increase effectiveness and adoption of model laboratory practice guidelines (LPGs). An LPG is a written recommendation for voluntary, standardized approaches for medical laboratory testing.

The goal of this five-year project, which is funded by the CDC, is to collect data and define measures to reduce the LPG creation/revision timeline, identify new LPG dissemination/promotion processes, and increase LPGs’ uptake and effectiveness. The project’s ultimate goal is to improve patient care outcomes and public health.

CLSI’s role in the project has been to develop metrics to evaluate the awareness, adoption, adaptation, implementation and impact of two of our point-of-care LPGs (Point-of-Care Blood Glucose Testing in Acute and Chronic Care Facilities [POCT12] and Glucose Monitoring in Settings Without Laboratory Support [POCT13]). Through the use of surveys and focus groups based on these two guidelines, CLSI created a quality improvement plan to identify gaps in the LPG lifecycle. In year four of this cooperative project, CLSI began implementing this improvement plan. In year five of the project, which begins on September 1, 2017, CLSI will initiate the remainder of this improvement plan and analyze its effect, based on selected metrics.

CLSI’s participation in this cooperative project aligns with our vision of “Quality practices for better health,” and is advancing our mission to “Develop clinical and laboratory practices and promote their use worldwide.”