CLSI GP09-A

Selecting and Evaluating a Referral Laboratory; Approved Guideline

Provides reasonable objective criteria to assist laboratory managers and directors with choosing a referral laboratory. The subcommittee that Developed this guideline was comprised of laboratory professionals from commercial and state referral laboratories, government agencies, accrediting bodies, and hospitals and medical centers. With the benefit of this broad-based experience, we attempted to provide, primarily to laboratory managers and directors, an easily implemented, but thorough, procedure for evaluating and choosing a laboratory where routine or special analyses could be carried out most effectively. In Section 2, the guideline outlines the reasons for choosing a referral laboratory, and in Section 3, the criteria for selection. The document also contains a checklist, many of whose points correspond to the selection criteria covered in Section 3.