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Review
. 2015 Dec 9:4:22-29.
doi: 10.1016/j.plabm.2015.12.002. eCollection 2016 Apr 1.

Practical challenges related to point of care testing

Julie L V Shaw  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Practical challenges related to point of care testing

Julie L V Shaw. Pract Lab Med. .

Abstract

Point of care testing (POCT) refers to laboratory testing that occurs near to the patient, often at the patient bedside. POCT can be advantageous in situations requiring rapid turnaround time of test results for clinical decision making. There are many challenges associated with POCT, mainly related to quality assurance. POCT is performed by clinical staff rather than laboratory trained individuals which can lead to errors resulting from a lack of understanding of the importance of quality control and quality assurance practices. POCT is usually more expensive than testing performed in the central laboratory and requires a significant amount of support from the laboratory to ensure the quality testing and meet accreditation requirements. Here, specific challenges related to POCT compliance with accreditation standards are discussed along with strategies that can be used to overcome these challenges. These areas include: documentation of POCT orders, charting of POCT results as well as training and certification of individuals performing POCT. Factors to consider when implementing connectivity between POCT instruments and the electronic medical record are also discussed in detail and include: uni-directional versus bidirectional communication, linking patient demographic information with POCT software, the importance of positive patient identification and considering where to chart POCT results in the electronic medical record.

Keywords: ADT, Admission, Discharge and Transfer; CSCC, Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists; Connectivity; EMR, electronic medical record; EORLA, Eastern Ontario Regional Laboratories Association; Electronic Medical Record; Laboratory accreditation; Medical directive; POCT, point of care testing; Point of care Testing; Positive patient identification; Results documentation; Transcription error.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Summary of results from a national survey by the Canadian Society of Clinical Chemistry POCT interest group on the question of how many technologists work solely in POCT.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Schematic representation of POCT device connectivity.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Examples of electronically charted POCT glucose (A) and urinalysis (B) results.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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