EQC per CLIA means which of the following?

• A. Equivalent
• B. Electronic
• C. External
• D. Essential

Answer: (B)

EQC per CLIA stands for External Quality Control. In a CLIA-regulated lab, quality control has two parts: internal QC, which uses controls run with each batch to monitor run-by-run performance, and external QC, which comes from outside the lab. External quality control involves proficiency testing or external quality assessment programs where the lab analyzes unknown samples provided by an external organization. The results are compared with reference values and with results from other laboratories, helping to ensure accuracy across labs and detect biases or drift that internal controls might miss. So the term emphasizes comparison and evaluation by an outside source, not something done within the lab or something electronic.