Current practices and challenges in the standardization and harmonization of clinical laboratory tests

Effective patient care, clinical research, and public health efforts require comparability of laboratory results independent of time, place, and measurement procedure. Comparability is achieved by establishing metrological traceability, which ensures that measurement procedures measure the same quantity and that the calibration of measurement procedures is traceable to a common reference system consisting of reference methods and materials. Whereas standardization ensures traceability to the International System of Units, harmonization ensures traceability to a reference system agreed on by convention. This article provides an overview of standardization and harmonization with an emphasis on commutability as an important variable that affects testing accuracy. Commutability of reference materials is required to ensure that traceability is established appropriately and that laboratory results are comparable. The use of noncommutable reference materials leads to inaccurate results. Whereas procedures and protocols for standardizing measurements are established and have been successfully applied in efforts such as the Hormones Standardization Program of the CDC, harmonization activities require new, more complex procedures and approaches. The American Association for Clinical Chemistry, together with its domestic and international partners, formed the International Consortium for Harmonization of Clinical Laboratory Results to coordinate harmonization efforts. Reference systems, as well as procedures and protocols to establish traceability of clinical laboratory tests, have been established and continue to be developed by national and international groups and organizations. Serum tests of thyroid function, including those for the thyroid hormones thyroxine and triiodothyronine, are among the clinical procedures for which standardization efforts are well under way. Approaches to the harmonization of measurement procedures for serum concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone are likewise under development.