The EA LC Working Group (WG) Health Care met in Dublin, Ireland, on June 17-18 2025.
During the meeting, several items were presented and discussed:
- The transition from ISO 15189:2012 Medical laboratories — Requirements for quality and competence to EN 15189:2022 and the challenges it brings;
- The accreditation of point-of-care-testing (POCT) and the revision of the guidance EA-4/20 Guidance for the assessment of laboratories against EN ISO 15189 and EN ISO 22870 Point-of-Care Testing (POCT) to comply with EN ISO 15189:2022. The new guidance is now ready to be submitted to the EA Laboratory Committee for further treatment and comments.
In addition, participants discussed several questions, including the mention of accreditation on reports, equipment calibration, the use of reagents past their expiration date, and the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in medical examinations.
It was the first meeting convened by Hélène Mehay (COFRAC, the French National Accreditation Body), and Rodothea Koniotou (CYS-CYSAB, the Cyprus NAB) was elected as the new Vice-Convenor of the EA LC WG Health Care.
Hélène Mehay declared:
“The working group Healthcare is very dynamic, it was a pleasure to convene this fruitful meeting! Our objective is to improve harmonisation by sharing experience and contributing to guidance documents, taking into account developments in the field of laboratory medicine, in particular the reorganization of medical laboratories and the increasing use of artificial intelligence.”
More than 30 EA NABs and Stakeholders’ representatives attended the meeting hosted by INAB, the Irish NAB.