The Directive is a complex and detailed document and in the following the author focuses on some of the items that are particularly important for the user to be aware of.  Most of the rules will apply to the manufacturers and the public and the users will take advantage of the rulings if they become aware of their...

England's Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals have a POCT system they consider a success. This is a roadmap of the steps they have taken.

In 1948, Singer and Hastings introduced the concept of buffer base (BB). The change in BB from "normal" was called deltaBB (ΔBB). This change in BB was an expression of the non-respiratory (metabolic) component of an acid-base disturbance. This was the first approximation to base excess. In the 1950s, Astrup and...

Since Meakins in 1927 described the relationship between increased blood lactate levels and the presence of oxygen debt (tissue hypoxia) in patients with circulatory shock [1], lactate levels have been used to diagnose and monitor the treatment of these patients. However, as lactate is a normal (end) product of...

Identification of products by barcode has been utilized by industry and business for over 30 years. The use of barcodes in the hospital setting is also well established, but in the patient environment, hospitals are still behind industry. For Point-of-Care Testing (POCT), barcodes are highly desirable. Deanna Bogner, ...

Since the mid 1990's Point of Care Testing (POCT) has been viewed as a solution to a declared need for Short Turn Around Testing (STAT).  However, is it being utilized in a way that meets the needs of improving patient care and hospital quality assurance? What is STAT testing, why and how did it become POCT? How is...

Accreditation of medical laboratory examinations in the widest sense is becoming important as a management tool and a means to create confidence in results. The International Standard ISO/IEC 17025:1999 provides the general requirements for quality management system and technical competence, but the medical...

It is more and more common that computer-based systems in hospitals are serviced or "looked after" by service engineers dialing in from remote locations.  The combination of highly computerized laboratory equipment and the emerging network technologies makes remote support a very attractive possibility. In many...

According to the Hvidovre Hospital, standardizing is a must if POCT is to run optimally. In the first article of the series "POCT setups for blood gas", acutecaretesting.org interviews the Danish hospital on how they have successfully implemented POCT.

With the increasing number of blood tests performed at the point of care (POC), it has become more and more important to perform method comparison studies, comparing new methods to the existing methods used in the laboratory (LAB). This is done primarily to ensure that uniform results are reported throughout the...