Westgard rules were applied for the interpretation of daily internal quality control results.
Examples include QA on reagents, lot numbers, expiration dates, testing accuracy,
Westgard rules, and test results directly incorporated into the laboratory information system (LIS) which are stored directly within the patient case.
Quality control was ensured using internal quality control kits, Levey-Jennings charts based on lab-derived mean and standard deviation, corrective action on violations of
Westgard rules, and subscribed external quality controls.
Linnet has compared a "mean rule," closely related to Stouffer method, with traditional
Westgard rules. Given the same type-I error, the mean rule was more powerful for detection of shifts of location than
Westgard rules (38).
On applying
Westgard rules on the internal quality control data of protein all runs were acceptable at both control levels.
Sophisticated user-definable display of QC results should include Levey-Jennings plots and interactive display of violations of user-selected rules, such as
Westgard rules.
Westgard Rules. Available: http://www.westgard.com/westgard-rules [accessed 4 February 2010].
Mention is made of Levey-Jennings charts and
Westgard Rules but there is really no mention of how to use these tools in the context of day-to-day blood gas laboratory operation.
With advanced middleware solutions, laboratorians can set rules, defining QC protocols for each analyte based on QC metrics such as
Westgard rules. Trained laboratory staff members can set middleware rules that inform all staff of QC issues, or automatically stop autovalidation.
Usually, this is done in conjunction with what's called the
Westgard Rules, which are a convention that an instrument run and all its results should be scrutinized if any one control exceeds 2s from the mean (known as a 1(2s) violation).