Quality Assurance

TeleConsult Europe implements a stringent quality policy founded on three principles:

Selection

Performance Monitoring

Performance Reporting

Selection

TeleConsult pathologists are recruited and selected based on their education, experience and sub specialty fields. Prior to joining the TeleConsult team, new pathologists must pass a pre-qualification test as part of our Quality Assurance Program. Subsequently the performance and reporting quality of each individual pathologist is monitored continuously as outlined below.

Performance Monitoring

To monitor pathologists’ performance, the TeleConsult Quality Assurance (QA) Program was developed. Its primary objective is to promote patient safety and enhance patient care with accurate, complete and quality consistent microbiological diagnoses and reports.

The Program is executed by the TCE Quality Committee consisting of an expert panel of pathologists representing all subspecialties who perform:

Retrospective Reviews
20% of pathology reports are reviewed at random a day after reporting by a member of the TCE Quality Committee. Any discrepancies in findings with the original reporting pathologist’s diagnosis are recorded and scored based on the peer score system.
Prospective reviews
In case of doubt of the correct diagnosis the TCE pathologist can ask the TCE Quality Committee for a second opinion, which is performed immediately before the report is delivered to the referring physician.
Communication of outcome
All discrepancies are communicated to the original reporting pathologist. In case of clinically significant discrepancies the TCE Quality Committee makes an addendum to the original report and the referring physician of the client clinic is informed by email. In case of unusual or life threatening findings the reporting pathologist will contact and inform the referring physician without delay.

Performance Reporting

All TCE pathologists receive a quarterly report on their quality score. This keeps our pathologists informed about their individual performance and creates a drive for constant quality improvement. Moreover it inspires the group to communicate and learn from each other, resulting in overall quality improvement.