[Managing the quality of attention in public hospitals' clinical laboratories in Maracaibo, Venezuela].

Objective: Evaluating how clinical laboratories' quality was being managed according to the view of external users, thereby determining the dimensions of quality related to their satisfaction and sociodemographic characteristics.

Methods: The study was descriptive; the sample consisted of 1,875 outpatients attending the laboratories of type 3 and 4 care level public hospitals located in the metropolitan area of Zulia State in Venezuela between October and December 2008. A previously validated survey was applied.