[Efforts and the Future Agenda for Introducing the Quality Management System ISO 15189 in Akita University Hospital].

Quality management systems are the tools that document the processes and responsibilities to achieve quality policies and objectives. Recently, increasing numbers of clinical laboratories have been certified for ISO 15189, an international certification for hospital laboratories. However, our laboratory remains in the preparation process. Major obstacles in our hospital are the tight budget and the timing of introducing the ISO 15189 system because of the old equipment in our laboratory. To overcome these problems, we have made efforts including study workshops with invited lecturers with expertise, joining the prefectural work- shop for clinical technicians. We have also started to prepare standard operational procedures for each la- boratory test. As the preparation advances, it has become clear that gaining the understanding of the signifi- cance of ISO 15189 of hospital executives is indispensable, especially in respect to funding. It is our respon- sibility to achieve standardized and improved laboratory examinations, in order to contribute to high-quality medical care, research, and education. Achieving the certification for ISO 15189 offers a great opportunity to improve our skills in laboratory medicine.