GEM 5000 monthly QC review

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Hi everyone!  Our facility uses the GEM 5000 analyzers for POC blood gasses and I'm curious how others do a monthly QC review on them.  Since the analyzer self-manages its QC and is practically a new analyzer each time a cartridge is changed, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around evaluating bias, trends, etc.. like I would for a more traditional analyzer.  We are using the reports generated via GEMWeb.  Thanks as always and Happy New Year!

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I'm looking forward to seeing what others do, we do not have GEMWeb plus software yet.  I download reports each month from the analyzers using a USB.  We have had issues with a couple of our analyzers after install where we were seeing repeated error codes and tech support had to come out and repair the analyzers, so I do feel a monthly review is helpful.  I review the following: 
  • Corrective Action Report: make sure that the cartridge was used for the full number of days/tests.  If cartridge was removed early, investigate or educate.  Place tickets with tech support for unused tests if analyzer/cartridge caused.
  • CVP Report: review any failures and watch for trends.
  • Delta Chart Review: No issues yet, but watch for trends.
  • Review patient results to check for clerical or reporting errors.

we use the reports in Gem Web Plus.  Reports>IQM>All Reports> enter the month. to review.
Gives you a nice little overview of the month.
we review this each month to see if we have issues and it gives the corrected report at the end to see if we have a cartridge, we need to call in for credit from werfen.  The reports get filed into a binder and signed for a cap inspection.

We use the reports in Gem Web Plus also- CVP and IQM.  There is a button when you view the report that says Report Signature and you can electronically stamp your review name and date.  We keep track of failed cartridges and we turn those into Werfen for credit or replacement.  We log those onto a spreadsheet to keep track of in case it seems to be failing on a specific analyzer.

I do use the IQM "All Reports" and sign them each month, but I'm finding review for bias and trends to be somewhat pointless.  I often see shifts on various parameters (all in range, otherwise the GEM spits out the cartridge), but they are always the result of a cartridge change and by the time I'm doing my monthly review, it's already a new cartridge.  Thank you for all the replies!

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Angie Yost
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