Point-of-Care Testing in the Indigenous Rural Environment—The Australian Experience

The characteristics of rural health and the issues driving the delivery of healthcare services to the rural environment are very different from those of metropolitan centers. Geographical isolation and its effect on access to health services is the defining element of rural health (1). In addition, the differing social, lifestyle, and environmental determinants of health in the rural population, including a greater degree of cultural diversity; lack of employment opportunities; lower income levels; and poorer access to housing, education, and transport, significantly influence the mode of healthcare delivery, health status, and patterns of disease (2). Overall, the rural sector experiences higher mortality rates and poorer health status than metropolitan regions, a trend that becomes more apparent with increasing remoteness (3). Prevalence rates for both acute and chronic conditions and communicable and noncommunicable diseases are generally higher in rural than in metropolitan environments, and greatest in remote regions (4). The challenge of reducing the health differential between rural and metropolitan environments lies with the development of inventive solutions to specific local health problems (1). The astute and practical application of point-of-care testing (POCT) can unquestionably be one of those inventive solutions in the broader context of improving rural healthcare delivery—in both the acute and chronic clinical context.