Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 102 Part 3.djvu/962

 102 STAT. 2914

PUBLIC LAW 100-578—OCT. 31, 1988

"(q) CONSULTATIONS.—In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult with appropriate private organizations and public agencies.". 42 USC 263a

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

Subsections (g)(1), (h), (i), (j), (k), (1), and (m) of section 353 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by section 101, shall take effect January 1, 1989, except that any reference in such subsections to the standards established under subsection (f) shall be considered a reference to the standards established under subsection (d) of such section 353, as in effect on December 31, 1988. During the period beginning January 1, 1989, and ending December 31, 1989, subsections (a) through (d) and subsections (i) through (1) of such section 353 as in effect on December 31, 1988, shall continue to apply to clinical laboratories. The remaining subsections of such section 353, as so amended, shall take effect January 1, 1990, except that subsections (f)(1)(C) and (g)(2) shall take effect July 1, 1991, with respect to laboratories which were not subject to the requirements of such section 353 as in effect on December 31, 1988. 42 USC 263a

SEC. 4. STUDIES.

(a) STUDIES.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Public Health Service, shall conduct studies of— (1) the validity, reliability, and accuracy of proficiency testing of clinical laboratories under section 353 of the Public Health Service Act (as amended by section 2 of this Act), (2) the correlation between established standards for personnel employed in clinical laboratories and the accuracy and reliability of the results of the tests performed by the laboratories which are subject to such standards, (3) the correlation between internal quality assurance and quality control programs for clinical laboratories and the accuracy and reliability of the results of the tests performed by the laboratories, (4) the extent and nature of problems in the diagnosis and treatment of patients caused by inaccurate laboratory test results, and (5) the effect on laboratory test accuracy of errors in each of the components of the clinical testing process, including the communication between the attending physician and the clinical laboratory which is to conduct the tests, the selection of the tests to be performed, the limits applicable to the tests selected, the acquisition of the material to be tested, the transportation of the material to the laboratory, the storage of the material by the laboratory, the analysis of the material by the laboratory, and the reporting of the results by the laboratory.

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