Point-of-care testing at the millennium

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is a major force in the future evolution of hospital care, with prospects for even greater expansion of accessibility, speed, and also, hopefully, accuracy of results. New developments in POCT technology will predictably occur in three areas: connectivity, test menu expansion, and noninvasiveness. Connectivity for POCT devices has evolved from point-of-service workstations to standardized POCT data transmission protocols to remote roaming wireless connectivity with automatic data capture. POCT test menus will continue to expand, with more coagulation testing, chemistries, and infectious screening, but also on-site drug screening, intraoperative hormone levels, and microchip DNA diagnostics. Noninvasive POCT will expand beyond the GlucoWatch glucose monitor and the Bilichek noninvasive bilirubin monitor to noninvasive CBCs and Pap smears.