These guidelines provide information on how to develop and manage a point-of-care (POCT) service so that reliable haematology results are produced regardless of where the test is performed. Many of the issues addressed here are relevant to POCT within hospitals or health centres; however, the principles are equally applicable to care in the community and doctors' offices. Other aspects discusse...

The term ‘Point of Care’ with respect to point-of-care testing (POCT) or point-of-care monitoring (POCM) covers a broad range of medical devices. POCT is defined as clinical laboratory testing conducted close to the site of patient care, typically used by clinical personnel whose primary training is not in the laboratory sciences or by patients self-testing [1]. Because of the rapidly increasin...

Studies using deletion mutagenesis indicate that a processing recognition site lies proximal to the normal cleavage position between gln32 and ser33 of pre-ornithine carbamyl transferase (pOCT). pOCT cDNA was manipulated to delete codons specifying amino acids 22-30 of the signal sequence. The mutant precursor, designated pOCT delta 22-30, was imported to the matrix compartment by purified mito...

OBJECTIVES Point-of-care laboratory testing (POCT) offers reduced turnaround time and may promote improved operational efficiency. Few studies have been reported that document improvements from implementing POCT in primary care. METHODS We measured metrics of practice efficiency in a primary care practice before and after implementation of POCT, including the total number of tests ordered, le...

BACKGROUND HIV point-of-care testing (POCT) was approved for use in Canada in 2005 and provides important public health benefits by providing rapid screening results rather than sending a blood sample to a laboratory and waiting on test results. Access to test results soon after testing (or during the same visit) is believed to increase the likelihood that individuals will receive their results...

Patients presenting with UTI symptoms are among the most frequent clinical presentations in primary care accounting for 15% of all community antibiotic prescriptions. The diagnostic accuracy of clinical assessment and the most appropriate management of uncomplicated UTI remain unclear. Primary care clinicians are more likely to treat empirically without additional testing. Some advances are bei...

BACKGROUND Point-of-care testing (POCT) can provide rapid test results, but its impact on patient care is not well documented. We investigated the ability of POCT to decrease inpatient and outpatient waiting times for cardiovascular procedures. METHODS We prospectively studied, over a 7-month period, 216 patients requiring diagnostic laboratory testing for coagulation (prothrombin time/activa...

The national Quality Assurance for Aboriginal Medical Services (QAAMS) Program, in which point-of-care testing (POCT) for haemoglobin A(1c) (HbA(1c)) and urine albumin: creatinine ratio (ACR) is performed for diabetes management in 65 Australian Aboriginal medical services, is now embedded in the practice of diabetes care across Indigenous Australia. This paper documents the results of a detail...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance of a newly developed point-of-care test (POCT) for the detection of measles-specific IgM antibodies in serum and oral fluid specimens and to assess if measles virus nucleic acid could be recovered from used POCT strips. METHODS The POCT was used to test 170 serum specimens collected through measles surveillance or vaccination programmes in Ethiopia, Malay...

BACKGROUND Point-of-care testing (PoCT) is increasingly being used in the general practice setting and has the potential to provide improved health outcomes for patients. OBJECTIVES The aim of the study was to systematically assess the literature relating to the analytical performance, clinical effectiveness, cost and satisfaction of patients and health professionals with PoCT for monitoring ...