Point-of-care testing: an overview and a look to the future (circa 2009, United States)

Point-of-care testing is a rapidly growing area in laboratory medicine. Technologies related to point-of-care testing have unique analytical features and are used in a number of clinical applications. These attributes combined with complex regulatory requirements have made point-of-care testing a true specialty within pathology. Manufacturers continue to develop new point-of-care tests and have consolidated multiple assays to single small handheld or bench-top devices. Enterprise hospital-wide data management systems are available to facilitate improved regulatory compliance and transmit test results into the electronic medical record. Some studies have shown that point-of-care testing can improve clinical outcomes or increase the efficiency of hospital operations. In spite of these developments, many challenges remain. In some cases, the quality of point-of-care tests performed by nonlaboratory personnel does not match that of testing performed in the central laboratory. Data management connectivity remains a significant problem, especially for manually performed tests. Managing a point-of-care program to maintain regulatory compliance is also problematic. For these reasons, the future of point-of-care testing is not entirely clear. The most likely scenario will be a slow but progressive growth of point-of-care testing in the hospital, in the outpatient clinic, and in the home.