I (Geo) enjoyed dining with our NASCOLA colleagues on Wednesday, 7 May 2025, while attending the 2025 ISLH annual meeting in Halifax, NS. NASCOLA is a nonprofit organization that provides proficiency testing services for North American laboratories that perform diagnostic testing for bleeding or thrombotic disorders, thereby improving performance standards. NASCOLA reviews and assists with the development of guidelines for the appropriate use of hemostasis tests, enhances communication and education among coagulation laboratories, and supports clinical research in collaboration with its participants. NASCOLA extends hemostasis proficiency testing beyond the offerings of international external proficiency testing services such as API or CAP, including LAC profiles, hemophilia assays, thrombophilia profiles, platelet function assays, and more. NASCOLA is the North American distributor of Netherlands-based ECAT, which provides proficiency testing materials and evaluation through EQAP, which includes European hemostasis facilities and more. NASCOLA and ECAT share resources and reporting systems. The May 7 meeting featured three informative presentations…
- Update on ECAT programs with statistical analysis; Piet Meijer, PhD, Director, ECAT Foundation
- A fully automated FRET-based ADAMT13 activity assay with a practical approach to address high background fluorescence interference; Jing Jin MS, MT (ASCP), Special Reference Technologist, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics
- Whole blood impedance aggregometry: NASCOLA post-analytic proficiency testing.; Marian Rollins-Raval, MD, MPH, Division Chief of Hematopathology, Professor of Clinical Pathology, University of Vermont Medical Center
NASCOLA and ECAT participation is essential to reference and tertiary care facilities that provide basic and specialized hemostasis testing.
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