Could standardisation of clinical LC-MS/MS transform delivery of patient care?

Clinicians working in hospital settings are faced with difficult decisions on a daily basis. Providing rapid assessment and treatment is a constant challenge, especially for patients suffering from life-threatening conditions, as well as those requiring urgent surgery or transplantation. In their non-stop quest to provide all patients with the best possible treatment options, clinicians rely heavily on clinical diagnostic laboratories to supply them with high-quality test results in a timely manner.

            Standardisation of assays is a key aspect of quality, allowing clinicians and their patients to benefit from results that are reproducible, consistent and comparable over time and between different hospitals. Standardisation also helps lower healthcare costs by reducing follow-up diagnostic procedures and treatments undertaken in response to inaccurate or inconsistent test results.

        Utilising powerful, competent analytical technologies designed to facilitate standardisation could allow clinical laboratories to deliver reliable results and, ultimately, improve the quality of care patients receive. Professor Keevil believes that the introduction of standardised liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) technology has the potential to transform the clinical diagnostic landscape and lead to a new era of healthcare provision.