EASI - The European Autoimmunity Standardisation Initiative : a new initiative that can contribute to agreed diagnostic models of diagnosing autoimmune disorders throughout Europe

The European Autoimmunity Standardisation Initiative (EASI) was founded 6 years ago with the intention of improving diagnostics in chronic rheumatic disorders by strengthening the collaboration between clinical and laboratory scientists responsible for autoimmune diagnostics at any given level of the health care systems in Europe. Thorough clinical work-up is frequently not the basis for the usage of laboratory tests. Old established test methods may be exchanged for new methods without the differences being communicated. Often, the optimal way of reporting laboratory results to the clinic has not been agreed upon between clinicians and laboratory scientists. An EASI international team consisting of expert rheumatologists/internists/laboratory scientists from Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the United Kingdom meets once a year to discuss how interactions between laboratories and rheumatology clinics could be improved in practical terms, how algorithms for cost-effective and rational autoantibody testing could be harmonized, and what an international concept of standardization in this area could look like. In national EASI teams, which were founded in many European countries, clinical and laboratory experts also meet regularly to discuss how European guidelines may lead to practical improvements in their recent country-specific approaches. To enable the exchange of information and experiences, representatives of the different teams of the EASI Network will meet annually in the EASI Forum. All EASI teams will present and discuss the results of their activities with other experts in the field in an EASI Conference, which will be held biannually at the International Congress on Autoimmunity.