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POINT OF CARE TESTING:
WHAT’S NEW?
By Irwin Z. Rothenberg, MBA, MS, CLS(ASCP), Technical Writer / Quality Advisor, COLA Resources, Inc.
It has been one of the primary goals in the reformation of our
healthcare system to have patients more involved in managing
their own health. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) promotes the
shift from curative to preventive medicine by focusing on early
detection and management of chronic disease, along with a more
patient-centered approach to health care. POCT promotes these
goals with rapid test results that providers can use to immediately
inform patients of their condition or progress, and modify their
treatment on-site. This provides a face-to-face opportunity to
ensure understanding and discussion of future goals, thus more
directly involving the patient in their own care.
POCT is defined by the College of American Pathologists
as “tests designed to be used at or near the site where the
patient is located, that do not require permanent dedicated
space, and that are performed outside the physical facilities of
clinical laboratories”. POCT also streamlines the testing
process by obviating the need to collect a specimen, transport
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it to the lab, then perform testing, and transmit the results back
to the provider. This speed and efficiency often improves both
patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Increasing Demand for POCT
These advantages are further enhanced by continuous
technological innovation, improving the quality, convenience,
connectivity, speed, and range of applications. Emerging
technological innovations include smartphone apps,
biosensors, lab-on-a chip, and wearable devices. The
transmission of POC test results in Electronic Health Records
(EHR) further enhances the advantages of POCT. These
results can be shared instantaneously with all members of the
medical team, enhancing immediate patient assessment and
treatment as well as making POC data available for analysis.
Additional factors in our society that are enhancing the
demand for rapid, on site, decentralized, personalized and
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