Provision of interpretative comments on biochemical report forms

Providing interpretative comments on reports, particularly those for primar y care physicians is an important part of our job. Few clinical biochemists (whether medical or scientific) receive significant training for this. Mos t work in isolation, and few receive feedback on the utility of their comme nts. Surveys show an extremely wide divergence of opinion and comment even on apparently straightforward sets of abnormal results. Some comments are r egarded as highly inappropriate when assessed by peer review. There is a ne ed for further education and training in this area, concentrating as much o n 'how to comment' as on 'what to comment'. There is also a need to establi sh some form of quality assurance for this important part of the post-analy tical phase. A pilot External Quality Assurance Scheme (EQAS) is now being established.