The Assessment Tool for Laboratory Services (ATLAS) 2017 is a data gathering tool developed to assess laboratory services and logistics. The ATLAS is a diagnostic and monitoring tool that can be used as a baseline survey to complete an annual assessment or as an integral part of the work planning process. The ATLAS is primarily a quantitative tool with a small sample qualitative facility survey of available commodities and equipment. The information collected by using the ATLAS is analyzed to identify issues and opportunities and to outline further assessment and/or appropriate interventions.
The ATLAS is used to analyze the entire laboratory system. It includes three questionnaires: central administrative level, intermediate administrative level, and the facility (laboratory) level.
Assessments using the ATLAS can be conducted and analyzed in successive years. The results can contribute to the monitoring, improvement, and sustainability of laboratory performance and provide critical non-logistics data that can identify a country’s laboratory systems’ strengths and weaknesses.
