CONDUCTING OUTCOMES RESEARCH - PAST EXPERIENCE AND FUTURE-DIRECTIONS

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was delegated aut hority to conduct the studies mandated in the Clinical Laboratory Impr ovement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA). Since that time, the CDC has been p lanning and implementing a research program, Evaluation of Quality of Laboratory Practices and Standards (EQLPS), aimed at demonstrating a c lear linkage between patient outcome and laboratory practices and stan dards such as proficiency testing, quality assurance, and personnel st andards. The goal of EQLPS is to improve the quality of laboratory med icine by providing a scientific and technical basis for laboratory pra ctices and standards. In October 1995, the CDC will sponsor an Institu te entitled ''Frontiers in Laboratory Practice Research,'' during whic h strategies for conducting laboratory practice research will be discu ssed. The Institute should help identify research strategies that will eventually provide the information necessary to develop appropriate p ractice guidelines for laboratory medicine.