The method classification system is designed to comprehensively describe your analytical system for each measurand. The methods are broken down into categories that will describe the variables of the test method, such as the analytical principle, instrument, reagent manufacturer and calibrator. This breakdown facilitates a high level of peer review, where your data can be shown in relation to your immediate peers using the same analytical systems.

An example of the categories used are:

Category 1 – Analytical Principle

Category 2 – Measurement System

Category 3 – Reagent Source

Category 4 – Calibrator or Additional Information

All RCPAQAP programs that are delivered via the eQuality platform will use the method category system to facilitate analysis of survey results and will be captured when customers enter survey results on the new myQAP portal. The method categories will be based on the testing platform and may differ from the categories listed above.

 

Combining Method Categories

The RCPAQAP captures the method classification system used to analyse each measurand assessed in programs. The methods are broken down into categories that describe the variables of the method used. Examples of the ‘Target source’ categories are listed above.

Since the introduction of the new reporting system, the “measurement system category” has been further refined into individual model types to potentially detect differences between instruments from the same manufacturer. This has meant that meaningful peer group comparisons were limited for some of the smaller instrument groups where a minimum of 6 results are required to assess.

To address this issue, we are combining measurement systems, from the same manufacturer that use identical principles. For instance, the Roche Diagnostics cobas c501 and c502, which share the same principle to analyse all analytes, will be grouped together.  The peer group comparison will then be based on the median of this combined group.

The survey reports will now feature the combined method category in both the results to date section and in the related Youden plots. The method comparison table will display statistics for the combined group and the individual categories assigned to the group.

Measurement system highlighting the instruments combined to form the group.

The method comparison table presents statistical data for both the group and individual methods.