
Though the regulation and oversight of the use of these devices may differ when healthcare professionals use them as opposed to the general public, they are more or less comparable devices. Glucose meters can also be used by diabetics at home to monitor levels and to adjust their insulin if necessary. For example, glucose meters are used by healthcare professionals to monitor patients on the hospital ward.
#Istat lab testing professional#
The same type of point-of-care device may be used by a healthcare professional and a "lay person" such as yourself.

Both examples are considered point-of-care testing. Alternatively, that healthcare professional may collect a blood sample from the patient and walk the sample down the hallway to a satellite lab, where the sample is processed and tested on instrumentation. A healthcare professional may use a handheld device to perform a test at a patient's bedside. They may use basic dipsticks as with urinalysis, handheld devices like glucose meters, or sophisticated benchtop analysers such as those used to assess blood gases in critically ill patients. These tests are often referred to as "self-tests" or "home tests".ĭevices for point-of-care tests come in an variety of forms. pregnancy tests may even be done by yourself. A wide variety of people can perform point-of-care tests, including laboratory professionals, paramedics, radiologists, doctors, nurses, or other healthcare professionals. Point-of-care testing can take place in a wide variety of locations for example at the GP surgery, in A&E or in the community. Although centralised laboratories offer a much wider range of tests and remain the mainstay of diagnostic testing, POCT can offer a rapid turnaround time with a potentially immediate impact on patient care. Essentially it is a laboratory test conducted outside of the laboratory setting, usually by appropriately trained non-laboratory staff. Point of care testing (POCT) is defined as diagnostic testing that is performed at or near to the site of the patient with the result leading to a potential change in the care of that patient.

Urine Albumin to Creatinine Ratio or ACR.Unvalidated or misleading laboratory tests.Red Blood Cell (RBC) Antibody Identification.Heparin-induced Thrombocytopenia Antibody.Genetic Tests for Targeted Cancer Therapy.First Trimester (Combined) Screen for Down’s Syndrome and other fetal anomalies.Factor V Leiden Mutation and PT 20210 Mutation.
