POCT Technology
When time is in critically short supply, Point of Care Settings smart technology can relieve some of the burdens
‘Emergency departments (EDs) face significant challenges in delivering high quality and timely patient care on an ever-present background of increasing patient numbers and limited hospital resources. A mismatch between patient demand and the ED’s capacity to deliver care often leads to poor patient flow and departmental crowding. These are associated with reduction in the quality of the care delivered and poor patient outcomes.’ According to Improving emergency department patient flow.
The scarcity of time and pressure on limited resources is often critical in point of care settings and reliable and accurate information is crucial to patient outcomes.
Emerging Point of Care Technologies (POCT)
In the current climate, where POCT and ED departments are operating in a time deficit, emerging technologies to assist in the efficient diagnosis and treatment of patients are key. These technologies improve patient flow, offer a crucial time saving and, in the long term, are economically more beneficial than delaying patient treatment - waiting for timely lab results, sometimes when they are not required.
One such technology is the SmartTester Point of Care Rapid Test Reader, a timely leap forward for the Point of Care arena - helping to speed up diagnosis and offering rapid and accurate results wherever you may need them!
Portability is also important, and this very compact IVD test system is exceptionally lightweight - offering quantitative determination of CRP, D-dimer, cTnI and hCG using lateral flow cassettes. The system delivers fast and reliable results and is ideal for professional use in a clinical laboratory setting or point-of-care location. As it is simple to use – colour touch screen and includes Quality Control and Operator and Data Management – it can be utilised in many situations.
Such technology can swiftly reduce the time spent in the ED and Doctors Surgeries by providing diagnostic answers and reducing errors from visually read tests - aiding decision making and sign posting the patient to the right treatment.
According to Point-of-care CRP testing in the diagnosis of pneumonia in adults, ‘Respiratory tract infections (RTI) are among the most common acute conditions leading to GP consultations and to antibiotic prescribing in primary care, even though 70% are viral, and many others are minor self-limiting bacterial infections.The decision to prescribe antibiotics for an acute RTI in primary care is often based on clinical symptoms, which have low sensitivity and specificity, and high inter-observer variability. In primary care, it is very difficult to differentiate between diagnoses without additional tests.’
Running the CRP test for just 1.5 minutes gives the primary care physician the information required to inform them whether anti biotics are required or whether it is more likely to be a viral infection. All tests are machine read and printed immediately via the on-board printer – eliminating errors.
In the Point of Care/ED department, the SmartTester can assist in the diagnosis of Pregnancy, Pneumonia, Chest infection, Sepsis, Blood Clots, and Heart attack.
Testing for CRP and HCG in the doctor’s surgery or ED would swiftly offer the patient guidance as to whether they may be pregnant so that the physician may be able to provide appropriate care and take extra precautions with X-rays and medication. It would also assist in reducing the over prescription of anti-biotics.
All the SmartTester tests can be done swiftly and near the patient by non-laboratory personnel, speeding up patient care and giving physicians the answers, they need to enable them to treat the patients quickly and efficiently.
All of this reduces the patient’s time in the healthcare setting and saving money!
A trial published in the Scandinavian Journal of Trauma, Resuscitation and Emergency Medicine looked at whether time saving translated into economic savings when POCT tests were run.
‘Time-saving is constantly sought after in the Emergency Department (ED), and Point-of-Care (POC) testing has been shown to be an effective time-saving intervention. However, when direct costs are compared, these tests commonly appear to be cost-prohibitive. Economic viability may become apparent when the time-saving is translated into financial benefits from staffing, time- and cost-saving.’ The purpose of the study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of diagnostic investigations utilised prior to medical contact for ED patients with common medical complaints. Findings from the study showed that ‘In certain combinations, upfront, POC testing is more cost-effective than standard diagnostic testing for common ED undifferentiated medical.
The SmartTester, and other technologies. offer huge potential to the NHS Hospitals, clinics, Doctors Surgeries and Private Healthcare facilities. When time is in very short supply, such technologies can relieve some of the burden on healthcare professionals. For further information visit https://www.sterilab.co.uk/products/poct-rapid-test-system/
Sterilab Services have over 20 years’ experience in Healthcare diagnostics and POCT Products.