A new Canadian model to screen for A1c in community pharmacies

Pharmacists and Point-of-Care Testing Technology has advanced sufficiently to allow the assessment of laboratory tests at the point of-care delivery through various point-of-care testing (POCT) kits. An ever-expanding number of tests are becoming available for use outside the laboratory setting. Pharmacists were early adopters of POCT by offering pregnancy testing when the technology made it possible to perform the testing in the pharmacy. Today, a wide variety of tests can be conducted in the pharmacy setting to enhance patient care. As the scope of practice of pharmacists expands, access to lab tests will allow pharmacists to make better informed decisions. POCT offers an alternative to traditional lab testing and provides results that are current, rather than relying on results that may be weeks to months old. Several recent studies have examined the feasibility and impact of pharmacy-based POCT. This issue of the Translator focuses on four studies that provide evidence of the utility and feasibility of POCT in the provision of patient care by pharmacists.