Impacto del Programa de Evaluación Externa de la Calidad en Química Clínica en México de 2004 a 2008

the impact of the external quality assessment program, applicable to clinical laboratories in the area of clinical chemistry in mexico, was studied, based on laboratory results during the march 2008-february 2009 cycle and the 2004-2008 period, through analytical, longitudinal, retrospective analyses of the results obtained by the laboratories that participated in the external quality assessment program of the school of chemical sciences of universidad autónoma de san luis potosí. statistical analysis was performed with microsoft？ office excel and epi info t programs. the percentage of clínical laboratories with acceptable performance (excellent and good) by analyte during the evaluation cycle in march 2008-february 2009 was 75% to 82%, whích íncreased when automated and semíautomated methods were used. for the 2004-2008 period, the laboratories, in 2004, had 3.02 times greatet risk of not qualifying with acceptable performance (p<0.05) than in 2008. in conclusión, the external qualíty assessment of the school of chemícal sciences of universidad autónoma de san luis potosí has had a strong impact on the overall performance of clinical laboratories, whích ensures the latter's qualíty.