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Editorial
. 2020 Jul 3;10(7):449.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics10070449.

Point-of-Care Diagnostic Services as an Integral Part of Health Services during the Novel Coronavirus 2019 Era

Tivani P Mashamba-Thompson  1 , Paul K Drain  2   3   4   5
Affiliations
Editorial

Point-of-Care Diagnostic Services as an Integral Part of Health Services during the Novel Coronavirus 2019 Era

Tivani P Mashamba-Thompson et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

Point-of-care (POC) diagnostic services are commonly associated with pathology laboratory services. This issue presents a holistic approach to POC diagnostics services from a variety of disciplines including pathology, radiological and information technology as well as mobile technology and artificial intelligence. This highlights the need for transdisciplinary collaboration to ensure the efficient development and implementation of point-of-care diagnostics. The advent of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has prompted rapid advances in the development of new POC diagnostics. Global private and public sector agencies have significantly increased their investment in the development of POC diagnostics. There is no longer a question about the availability and accessibility of POC diagnostics. The question is "how can POC diagnostic services be integrated into health services in way that is useful and acceptable in the COVID-19 era?".

Keywords: COVID-19 era; healthcare services; point-of-care diagnostics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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