Interpretation of Individual summary reports

Symbol	Meaning	Explanation and Suggested action
A	Action	The calculated Z score is outside IFM's recommended range and is therefore considered an outlier. Corrective actions are recommended.
F	Fail*	A test has yielded an incorrect result or a submitted result is deemed inappropriate. For example, a presence absence test result (which is not subjected to Z score calculations) is incorrect. Another example of F being applied is if the Z score appears to be OK, but the result is considered wrong, as when a low level of analyte is reported, but is not present. In such a case, a Z score may provide a statistical pass, but the answer is actually wrong.
P	Pass*	Pass can be applied to results where a Z score was applied and "fails", but because of other circumstances, the result is considered to be acceptable. An example of when such occurs is when a delay in transit has clearly caused sample instability, but an inoculated organism was detected in the correct samples, albeit at a level that is statistically too low.
O'ride	Over ride*	Your (usually) non-numerical result has been changed to another number to allow for statistical analysis. Your original result will always appear on your individual summary sheet in addition to the over-ride result.
X	Excluded	Your results have been excluded from statistical analysis, however a Z score may still be applied. There are a number of reasons that this may occur. For example, certain methods or groups of participants may cause bias in the data, or the results may have been received too late for inclusion in the original statistics. Your reported result will always appear on the summary sheet for your reference.

Please note that IFM assigns pass / fail results and over-rides results only after very careful consideration and application of our criteria and policies. To over-ride a statistical result and apply pass or fail must be done in a manner that is fair to all participants.

Participants are always welcome to ask questions about their reports. There is an appeal procedure if you disagree with actions taken by IFM.

Your individual summary sheet defines the results you submitted which underwent evaluation and some assessment of those results. The assessment of results and requests for corrective action are prepared with input from the technical adviser for the program and/or IECEE CTL working group 2.

If your laboratory is required to make any corrective actions, this will be clear on the summary page. The summary page may also indicate other requirements.

Responses from corrective actions are required within a time frame which is specified in IECEE CTL OP 103. The due date for follow up activities is indicated in correspondence from IFM.

There is an appeal procedure if you disagree with actions taken by IFM. The IECEE secretary and/or CTL chairman can be referred to for further matters concerning appeals generated by laboratories within the CB scheme.