POCT Technology Advantages And Disadvantages

I. Introduction When patients are in the hospital, they are often tested for many diseases and conditions. In fact, many hospitals have clinical testing areas and labs for testing saliva blood, and urine. However, these labs require a large amount of manpower and time to test samples, collect data, and analyze results. POCT (Point-of-Care Testing) is bedside testing for patients. Although POCT technologies provide many benefits such as, reduced testing time, decreased turnaround time, increased portability, and produced more accurate results, high costs have inhibited many facilities from purchasing and using POCT technologies. Finding a way to reduce the cost of POCT technologies could save many lives t hrough the aforementioned processes.

POCT is bedside, or point-of-care, testing for patients. This type of testing produces faster results, and this facilitates faster treatment. POCT devices come in different types, but can be split into two main categories, small handheld devices and larger bench top devices, which are essentially laboratory instruments which have been reduced in both size and complexity (John and Price 155). Research by John and Price has demonstrated that, POCT is research intensive in the hospital setting and will typically carry a higher cost per test (John and Price 63). However, it is also mentioned that POCT has a lower overall cost, due to the manpower a nd time needed for CLT. Many POCT technologists are now working towards making POCT technology fully automated to reduce the cost of individual tests. This is significant because one of the best locations of for POCT use is rural hospitals. In rural hospitals there are not a large number tests performed, making the cost of POCT technology greater than the benefit. Some of the benefits Abel states are, that POCT can reduce the cost and time of stay for hospital visits (Abel 853). Expedited treatment would lead to shorter stay, and fewer unnecessary tests performed, which are both positive improvements that can be made to current healthcare services. The usage of POCT could improve the rate of care; however, cost demands would have to be improved for POCT to be

The second solution is good, but it does not equally allow use of PCT technology for all. Only bigger centralized hospitals would have access to POCT technology, when smaller rural hospitals are in more dire need of such technology. The third solution is universally pleasing; however, it is not practical. The money to fund such a proposal is non-existent, making the solution impossible. The first solution is the best because it evaluates which POCT tests are worth the cost. Allowing both smaller rural, and larger urban hospitals to enjoy the benefits of POCT technology. In this way, the first solution provides universal