A system that verifies the reliability of analytical test results through the use of standards, controls, and statistical analysis

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Quality control is the part of the quality management system that ensures analytical results are reliable by actively monitoring performance with control materials, calibration standards, and statistical analysis. Using controls provides a known reference to verify that the instrument and method are operating within predefined specifications, standards keep the instrument properly calibrated, and statistical tools (like control charts and decision rules) help detect bias, imprecision, or random errors and trigger corrective actions when needed. This emphasis on continuous verification of measurement performance distinguishes it from quality assurance, which is broader and aimed at preventing errors by designing robust processes, and from broader terms like quality assessment or quality systems that refer to overall program-level quality activities. Therefore, the concept described is quality control.