As part of the clinical chemistry program of the Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service, we organized trials to conduct external quality assessment of serum glucose in 2022. We delivered three commutable serum specimens for each trial. The overall response rates were 83.1% and 87.8% in the first and second trials, respectively. Two types of reports were generated. The first was a common report that included the mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, median, minimum value, and maximum value according to methods and reagents. The second was a summary report of the results from each participating laboratory, featuring a histogram for each specimen, Levey-Jennings chart for serial percent deviations, and table showing the target value, upper and lower limits, percent deviation, and grade. The criteria were ±10.0% of the target value. The overall acceptable rates for the survey were 96.0% and 95.0%, respectively.

Keywords: Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service, Laboratory proficiency testing, Blood glucose, Quality improvement