No influence of heparin plasma and other (pre)analytic variables on D-dimer determinations.

• It allows anonymous, intergroup comparison of exam results, thus permitting laboratories to set quantitative performance goals relative to other laboratories. • It reports, for an individual or group, exam results for urine sediment categories (cells, casts, crystals, and organisms/artifacts) and the specific structures (e.g., waxy casts, oval fat bodies) within each category. This allows supervisors to distinguish clinically significant from insignificant errors. • It includes urine chemistry data, thus making the program more realistic because technologists usually have these data when interpreting microscope images. • It is easier to access because it can now be used from any computer on the internet. • It prints reports that meet CLIA requirements for documenting competency assessment.