Have a quality assessment in your future? Don’t let it get you down. AABB News spoke with actual assessors to find out how to pass an inspection. Here are five tips for keeping your blood bank, donor center, laboratory or transfusion service quality assessment from becoming distressing.
- Plan Ahead – Don’t wait until the last minute to prepare for you quality assessment. In fact, you shouldn’t even have to prepare! It is more effective to continually work on readiness throughout the cycle. Perform internal assessments on a regular basis so that you can address issues early on. Encourage your staff to report errors, and document and record findings and actions taken. Including your staff lets them know that they are part of the process. In addition, quality systems provide a foundation for operations to always be ready for an assessment.
- Get Your Ducks in a Row – Make sure your Policies, Processes and Procedures (PPPs) are developed and implemented, and keep a copy in writing to ensure the PPPs are followed as written. To avoid a Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) nonconformance, review the facility’s PPPs regularly to make sure standards are included for all three Ps and have a written process in place for reviewing changes.
- Keep that Equipment in Good Working Order – Facilities are required to monitor and maintain all equipment as per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Make sure you follow manufacturers’ instructions by reading manuals and creating a preventive maintenance and cleaning schedule based upon these recommendations. Record which tasks are completed, which are due, and any that are overdue so that tasks are not forgotten.
- Record, Record, Record – Reagents, equipment, and methods are protected by quality control standards. Make sure all records are complete and include results or interpretations, reviews completed and missed, and the validity of test results evaluated. Including regular and timely reviews in your processes is a good way to ensure that you are meeting quality control standards.
- Keep It Current – Make sure that current and valid documents are used at all times. Organize SOPs based on work-flow or process, and check for overlaps or inconsistencies. Before drafting a new SOP, review existing documents to determine if other SOPs may be affected.
Helmer Scientific offers many tools that will help you implement a continuous readiness environment within your facility. Equipment Validation Guides are offered on all products which include IQ/OQ/PQ outlines to help complete validation of all products. In addition, temperature validation packages and certificates of calibration are also offered. Contact Helmer for more information on these tools.
Melanie Champion, MBS, MR(ASCP)SBB, HP states that “An assessment is an opportunity to identify areas that are not in compliance and an educational experience for both the assessor and the facility.” Doing your part throughout the accreditation cycle will decrease the likelihood of last-minute panic before your assessment. For more information on how you can prepare for a Low-Stress Assessment, read the complete article in AABB News.
