n
on the Evidence-Based Laboratory Medicine Project of the International Clinical Pathology Center
Tadashi Kawai,MD,PhD, Medical Director, ICP Center
[Objectives]
In routine clinical practice, more than 1,000 different kinds of laboratory tests have been used. h is extremely important to establish adequate utilization of clinical laboratory tests not only for the sake of patients but also for improvement of cost-effectiveness. Therefore, recently gevidence-based medicine(EBM)h has been drawing much attention in healthcare system, particularly on adequate therapy. However, adequate therapy could be pursued only when accurate diagnosis, or gevidence-based diagnosis (EBD)h be made in a timely fashion. Clinical laboratory data are most objective among various diagnostic informations, and they should provide most useful data in gevidence-based laboratory medicine (EBLM)h.
International Clinical Pathology Center considers EBLM to be one of the most important subjects in the field of laboratory medicine in the coming new centuryC and has established the Committee on Systematic Reviewing in Laboratory Medicine (C-SRLM) in order to accomplish the following work items:
@ To perform systematic reviewing on the clinical usefulness of conventionally used laboratory tests,
A To feed-back the results of systematic reviewing in daily clinical practice,
B To find out some important subjects to be resolved further,
C To design and proceed new clinical studies on the above subjects for continuous improvement in clinical practice.
In order to accomplish the research projects mentioned above effectively, a group of laboratory physicians and/or laboratory scientists should work cooperatively with the clinicians who are keenly interested in each subject, and additionally they should be processed with a standardized methodology, avoiding duplicate studies among researchers. Thus, new information technology such as internet is mandatory. Although the importance of gevidence-based laboratory medicineh or adequate utilization of diagnostic tests has been pointed out frequently, no significant progress has been made in this new discipline of laboratory medicine. Therefore, the International Clinical Pathology Center will organize an national/global network to promote the project in collaboration with the Japan Society of Clinical Pathology and other national and international organizations.
[Procedures]
1. Organize the Committee on Systematic Reviewing in Laboratory Medicine (C-SRLM) to design and proceed the studies (see Annex 1).
2. Select adequate subjects to be studied through different ways.
3. Give a research grant in part to the selected subjects.
4. Hold various meetings necessary for the studies.
5. Discuss some ways to apply the results obtained through the projects to clinical practice.
6. Open an internet homepage to publicize the committee activity and the useful outcomes obtained.
7. Cooperate with national and/or international groups related to the project, such as the Cochrane Collaboration, the IFCC/C-SRLM, etc.
Annex 1
Organization and roles of the ICPC/C-SRLM
1. Methodology Team (Team leader: Prof. Masayuki Kanbe, Hiroshima Univ.)
Members: closely associated with the JSCP/Commission on Laboratory
Informatics.
Roles:
@ To prepare the standard methodology manual for systematic reviewing (meta-analysis) to be used for the SRLM project.
A To prepare the requirements for publishing the manuscripts dealing with clinical usefulness of diagnostic tests.
2. Selection Team (Team leader: Prof. Kiyoaki Watanabe, Keio Univ.)
Members: closely associated with the JSCP/Committee on Utilization of Diagnostic Tests.
Roles:
@ To select the subjects to be studied in the project.
A To prepare the data base in the field of SRLM.
3. Statistics Team (Team leader: Prof. Tsugiya Fukui, Kyoto Univ.)
Roles:
To study and propose the most suitable statistical methods to be applied in the project.
4. Management Team
Members: T. Kawai(Chairholder), T.Kanno (Vice Chair), M. Kanbe (Methodology leader), K. Watanabe (Selection leader), T. Fukui (Statistics leader),
K. Kawano, K. Nakahara, and I. Sakurabayashi
Roles:
@ To manage the Committee activity.
A To communicate with national/international organizations
(2000.6.27)
