Critical success factors for Vietnamese laboratories striving to implement quality management systems

Cathy Robinson; James Johnson; Katy Yao; Hien Bui

doi:10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.937

Critical success factors for Vietnamese laboratories striving to implement quality management systems

Afr J Lab Med. 2020 Dec 18;9(1):937. doi: 10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.937. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Cathy Robinson¹, James Johnson², Katy Yao³, Hien Bui⁴

Affiliations

¹ International Consulting Services, Louisiana State University Alexandria, Alexandria, Louisiana, United States.
² School of Health Sciences, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan, United States.
³ Division of Global HIV and TB Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
⁴ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hanoi, Vietnam.

Abstract

Accurate laboratory reporting is crucial to patient diagnosis and treatment. This study identified critical success factors (CSF) for implementing a laboratory quality management system (QMS). This descriptive research used qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data from laboratory managers and staff employed in Vietnamese hospital laboratories implementing a QMS. The top five CSFs identified were: (1) staff QMS knowledge, (2) manager leadership, (3) staff commitment, (4) mentorship, and (5) hospital administration support. Identifying CSFs is critical to successful planning and implementation of QMS.

Keywords: accuracy; critical success factors; laboratories earning ISO 15189 accreditation; medical laboratories implementing QMSs; quality management system helps laboratories improve quality; reliability of patient results.