Quality Assurance in the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office

Abstract The forensic sciences, including forensic pathology, are under increasing pressure to produce conclusions that are scientifically valid and useful to other agencies. There is a notable dearth of peer-reviewed, published studies establishing the scientific bases and validity of many forensic methods which allows for subjective defensible expert opinions. Every NAME accredited Medical Examiner-Coroner office should have a regularly scheduled Quality Assurance (QA) committee and a written QA policy. The Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner (DMEC) has a Departmental QA Committee, a Laboratory division QA program and a Medical Division QA committee that provide reporting and investigation mechanisms for sentinel events and procedures to ensure that all department work products meet minimum specifications. The QA program helps to insure the timeliness and quality of autopsy reports. The goal of the Medical Examiner-Coroner staff is to ensure that all reportable contagious diseases are reported to Public Health and the needs of the public are met, preserving the confidentiality of results as required by law. Autopsy reports are an essential part of the QA program in patient care, especially in trauma centers. The Los Angeles County DMEC works closely with the trauma centers to provide autopsy findings on trauma victims who underwent treatment for their injuries at these centers.