The Swedish Society for Clinical Chemistry has, through its expert group, produced a proposal for a protocol, which enhances the clinical and medical aspects on laboratory work. Some of the items will be found in the ISO 15189 but it was originally written to complement the EN 45001. Through the publication of this protocol in this issue we want to start a discussion around these questions. We would like to make use of the possibilities offered by the electronic form of our journal and start a discussion forum and maintain it as an easily accessible platform for discussions. Please, go to your key-board and give us your views.
All measurements harbor an inherent uncertainty.
Bias will then be the difference between many measurements of the same quantity and the assigned value. The statistic trueness will describe the systematic error. The concept of accuracy includes both random and systematic errors and is also often referred to as total error. Narayanan and Guder highlight the importance of knowledge of the preanalytical variables and their influence on the quality of laboratory results. The authors of the present article anticipate that with the awareness and introduction of strategies to recognise preanalytical errors the goal of achieving total laboratory quality is finally within our grasp.