The partner laboratories of Normamed work according to the requirements of the Normamed standards and with special analysis profiles.
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The partner laboratories of Normamed work according to the requirements of the Normamed standards and with special analysis profiles. The requirements are particularly high for microbiological laboratory work. They apply systematically from the extraction to the evaluation of the samples.
Laboratory diagnostic focuses on microbiological and serological examinations with a fixed spectrum and variable parameters. Manual work is done in combination with high-quality technology. The existing equipment also makes it possible to document the pathogens for research purposes.
Microbiology investigates pathogens in connection with the associated clinical pictures and other endogenous and exogenous influencing variables. The microbiological spectrum includes the precise diagnosis of bacteria, yeasts and parasites.
A particularly thorough analytical procedure is part of causal medical care. It is specifically ensured that the exact identification and classification of yeasts for instance, and the distinction between pathogenic and unsuspicious (e.g. food yeasts) substances is made carefully.
Normamed adds to the medical laboratory quality assurance with important elements. A laboratory can only evaluate what makes the scene.
It is therefore important to firmly integrate the steps (such as sample or material extraction) into the evaluation system BEFORE the actual laboratory analysis itself. This will lead to a permanent reduction in error rates, something that would be worth disseminating.
In addition, questions related to case history shall be touched upon, if questions trotting down the route of infection gain importance after first evaluations, for instance. Or if, due to the disease pattern, material is simply requested again for safety reasons, so that false-negatives can be further reduced. In case of certain pathogens, it may also be necessary to involve the partner in the process (keyword “ping pong infections”).
An example of the indispensability of a coordinated procedure is stool samples for instance. The pathogens sought for do not always occur homogeneously (i.e. evenly distributed). If this is not taken into account or if errors are made in the extraction and submission of the material, false-negative findings may occur.
Unfortunately, a negative result is often quickly derived from one or two negative specimens – which would perhaps be positive, if the specimens were collected in a controlled manner or if a further and correct investigative examinations were carried out. Within the framework of Normamed quality assurance, this circumstance is taken into account with a chain of measures to increase the quality of the evaluation.
It principally allows the requirement of a certain number of specimens in order to avoid false-negatives. Doing this in a non-specific way has a number of disadvantages in addition to high costs and does not solve other problems that need to be considered (e.g. the overgrowth of pathogenic yeasts with food yeasts or the fact that not every sample is suitable for evaluation).
It is therefore more important to integrate a plausibility check into the system. Simply put, it means: Given that all relevant factors forming the ailment are taken into account – could this be “right” as a result of the laboratory examination?
This test includes expertise regarding possible pathogens, answers from the anamnesis, information from other examinations and comparisons with similar disease patterns. For this integration, the patient must understand, want and authorise the therapist’s cooperation with the laboratory. Corresponding template management and processing can also be carried out.
The enlightened patient does not expect “abstract”, “dissociated diagnosis”, but rather a solid solution to his health problems by the meaningful execution of necessary and suitable laboratory analysis.
Many specimen (e.g. mouth swabs, urine, stool) can be taken by patients at their end. Normamed provides patient information for specimen and material collection because proper results and initiation of proper treatment require meticulous care. You can download it here.