CLSI has released a new fall webinar schedule.

Starting this month, the organization will focus on helping laboratory professionals develop their own individualized quality control plans (IQCPs) and provide them with new ways to deal with antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) challenges. By attending these webinars, participants can make sure their laboratories are prepared for the January 1, 2016, IQCP implementation and that their AST resources are up-to-date to ensure quality patient care in their facilities.

On September 15, 2015, CLSI will host a webinar entitled, Developing Your Laboratory’s IQCP for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing. Presented by Susan E. Sharp, PhD, ABMM, FAAM, Director, Regional Microbiology and Molecular Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Kaiser Permanente in Portland, Oregon, USA, and Linda C. Bruno, MA, MT(ASCP), Director, Microbiology and Molecular Pathology Labs at ACL Laboratories in Rosemont, Illinois, USA, this webinar will focus on requirements for IQCP as mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It will also focus on the new College of American Pathologists (CAP) requirements for IQCP and how to develop an IQCP for AST. 

On October 6, 2015, CLSI will partner with CAP to present Antimicrobial Susceptibility Challenges in regards to the CLSI AST documents and other AST resources that are currently available. Led by Janet A. Hindler, MCLS, MT(ASCP), Sr. Specialist, Clinical Microbiology at UCLA Health System in Los Angeles, California, USA, and Audrey N. Schuetz, MD, MPH, D(ABMM), FCAP, Interim Director, Clinical Microbiology Laboratory; Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; and Associate Professor of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital from New York, New York, USA, this webinar will cover appropriate agents to report on individual species when isolated from select body sites. There will also be information presented about practical strategies for identifying, confirming, and reporting results for multidrug-resistant bacteria. 

Lastly, on November 19, 2015, CLSI will host a webinar called Finding Value in Your AST IQCP: Improving Accuracy and Timeliness of AST Reports. This webinar will focus on what AST results should be confirmed before reporting and will cover processes that can be implemented to identify the most common AST reporting errors. Join A. Beth Prouse, MS, MT(ASCP), Clinical Microbiologist, at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland, USA, and Janet Hindler as they present on these topics as well as describe ways to improve AST report turnaround time.

CLSI is a not-for-profit membership organization that brings together the varied perspectives and expertise of the worldwide laboratory community for the advancement of a common cause: to foster excellence in laboratory medicine by developing and implementing clinical laboratory standards and guidelines that help laboratories fulfill their responsibilities with efficiency, effectiveness, and global applicability. 

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