Table 2. Selected examples of variability in performance specifications from different sources.

Analyte	RCPA-QAP	“Ricos Goal”, desirable TEa	RiliBÄK	CLIA
Sodium	3 mmol/L ≤ 150 mmol/L; 2% > 150 mmol/L	0.9%	5%	4 mmol/L
Potassium	± 0.2 mmol/L ≤ 4.0 mmol/L; 5% > 4.0 mmol/L	6%	8%	0.5 mmol/L
Chloride	3 mmol/L ≤ 100 mmol/L; 3% > 100 mmol/L	1.5%	8%	5%
Calcium	0.1 mmol/L ≤ 2.5 mmol/L; 4% > 2.5 mmol/L	2.4%	10%	0.25 mmol/L
Cholesterol	0.3 ≤ 5.00 mmol/L; 6% > 5.00 mmol/L	8.5%	13%	10%
Triglycerides	0.20 ≤ 1.60 mmol/L; 12% > 1.60 mmol/L	28%	16%	25%
RCPA-QAP - The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia quality assurance programs, Australia. TEa – total allowable error from biologic variation. RiliBÄK - guidelines of the German medical association for the quality assurance of laboratory medical examinations. CLIA - Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, USA. Adapted from (19).