Effectiveness Analysis of Method for Competence Evaluation through Description of Cause - and - Effect Diagram in Clinical Laboratory Practice

Abstract

In order to manage competence of personnel who contribute to quality assurance，a practical method for competence evaluation which can specifically indicate knowledge and skills is required．Though such a method for competence evaluation has been developed in a clinical laboratory test，effectiveness of this method has not yet analyzed．This method indicates that competence items are factors that affect the variation of test results using cause-and-effect diagrams．The purpose of this study is to verify the effectiveness of the method of developing competence evaluation items through description of cause-and-effect diagrams in clinical laboratory tests．We applied and compared the aforementioned method with that of developing competence evaluation items through description of the operation process．To compare the results，we developed two original indicators ： one expressing the potential competence to be achieved and the other expressing the difference in competence levels among clinical technologists．The findings verified the effectiveness of the method that used cause-and-effect diagrams for enhancing competence levels．It is implied that compared to the method that used description of the operation process，the method of building competence evaluation items using cause-and-effect diagrams is more useful for evaluating the required knowledge for quality assurance of clinical tests．