Recommendations and opinions for the use of point-of-care testing for hospitals and primary care: summary of a 1999 symposium

As part of a symposium on laboratory medicine, a colloquium on point-of-car e testing was held in June 1999 where four experts were invited to produce recommendations and opinions on the use of point-of-care testing under vari ous clinical venues. Each commented on costs for providing POCT services. A total of eleven recommendations and four opinions were rendered and discus sed in an open forum. While one expert concluded that some forms of POCT ar e less expensive than central laboratory testing if entire laboratory works tations are eliminated, another expert suggested that POCT offered little a dvantage if rapid transport systems are available. A recommendation was mad e that POCT be considered for analytes that have a required reporting turna round time of <30 min, and that the goals for precision and accuracy should be dictated by the clinical need and not by analytical limitations. Recomm endations for POCT in specific clinical situations include use of glycated hemoglobin and urine albumin testing with personal glucose monitoring at th e time of consultation, use of glycated albumin for gestational diabetes, l eukocyte esterase and nitrite testing in urine to screen for urinary tract infections, coagulation tests for monitoring patients on oral anticoagulant therapy and in the operating room, testing for H. pylori for patients with dyspepsia, and cardiac markers and urine drugs-of-abuse testing in the eme rgency department. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.