International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) defined laboratory quality management system (LQMS) as coordinated activities to direct and control the organization in regard to ensuring quality. The ISO 15189 further uses the laboratory quality management system as decoding the ISO 15189 standard.

In 2010 the Ministry of Health, Uganda adopted the Laboratory Quality Management System to improve the quality of laboratory services towards accreditation through the WHO (AFRO) step by step quality improvement. Hence Laboratory Quality Management System became a principle training package for peripheral laboratory quality improvement and complementary for the higher laboratories that were earmarked for strengthening laboratory Management towards Accreditation (SLMTA) program

The Ministry of Health has recognized the need to expand and develop quality laboratory services as part of grater framework of health system strengthening within resource-limited settings. As part of the effort to strengthen service delivery, Ministry of Health is working towards instituting laboratory quality management system at all laboratory levels. To move this agenda forward, implementing partners have been tasked to ensure that laboratory staff receive laboratory quality management systems training.

Although SLMTA/SIPTA programme was designed to be effected in limited resource setting, a section of laboratories
a) may still not afford to implement SLMTA/SLIPTA,
b) SLMTA/SLIPTA may not be effective in laboratories with minimal QMS requirements available, e.g. HC II, III level, and
c) the national SLIPTA capacity may not enable country wide SLMTA/SLIPTA execution.
To this, MOH/UNHLS developed a “scaled down” SLMTA/SLIPA version called LQMS.
Just like SLMTA/SLIPTA;
a) laboratory staff and managers are trained in QMS,
b) laboratories receive LQMS on-site mentorship and supervision and
c) laboratories are assessed against QMS performance.
More to SLMTA/SLIPTA revision, laboratories receiving unrated QMS scores are further graded under Star 0 level. UNHLS and partners graded LQMS Star 0 (Unrated) into five (5) levels,
A (121-150 Points),
B (91-120 Points),
C (61-90 Points),
D (31-60 Points), and
E (0 – 30 Points)
Grade A being highest graded score and Grade E being lowest graded score.