From Hire to Sign-Out: Competency Is a Record, Not a Course
Your newest analyst started in March and tested her first patient specimens in May. She keeps up on the bench, and when you ask how she’s doing, the answer is “fine.” In November you signed off her training on her third method.
In February the assessor opens her file and asks two questions. Where is her first semiannual assessment, due by November, six months after her first patient specimen? And on what date was she first allowed to report a result alone on each method? Her training record answers neither one.
Competency is a dated record with six elements, and its clock starts at her first patient specimen. The time from hire to her first result reported alone is a number you can measure and shorten, whether your records live in a binder or a laboratory information management system. The same applies in CLIA, CAP and ISO/IEC 17025 labs, and the table below shows where they differ.
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