Singapore: BD Diagnostics, a segment of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) launched of a new strategic alliance that will provide solutions to advance laboratory quality for improved patient outcomes in China and India. BD and CAP announced the collaboration during the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas in US.

Laboratories play a critical role in the diagnosis and treatment of disease for the more than 2.5 billion people who live in China and India. The BD/CAP strategic alliance will improve access to external quality assurance/proficiency testing (PT) that can have a direct and positive impact on laboratory quality, and therefore, patient outcomes. Together BD and CAP will provide education to improve awareness of global practice standards and training that will help laboratories achieve their quality improvement goals. Additionally, BD will manage PT distribution, including sales, shipping, and first-line client service.

CAP's laboratory accreditation, surveys, PT programs, and other quality management resources combined with BD's in-depth clinical knowledge of preanalytical systems provide a comprehensive, expert-based toolkit to help laboratories in China and India continuously improve the quality of the testing services they provide to patients. Through participation in CAP accreditation, laboratories in China and India can demonstrate their compliance to the most robust and comprehensive clinical laboratory testing standards in the world.

Dr Stanley J Robboy, president, CAP, said that, "The clinical laboratory and pathology contribute more than 70 percent of the information used to determine diagnoses and drive treatment decisions. This strategic alliance with BD will increase access to these essential resources, helping laboratories accelerate their quality improvement journey so that they can contribute to better quality care, differentiate themselves and their institutions, and be recognized globally among the best providers of laboratory and pathology services."

Mr John Ledek, president, BD Diagnostics Preanalytical Systems, said that, "This historic initiative brings together two of the leading global organizations that are ideally positioned to support laboratory improvement efforts around the world, particularly in China and India. From preanalytical specimen collection through post-analytical result reporting and interpretation, together, CAP and BD can provide more integrated laboratory quality improvement solutions that begin and end with the patient."