Why Do We Need Near Patient Testing?
The concept of near-patient testing is intriguing in today's context of streamlined health care with an emphasis on community-based care and one-stop clinics. Near-patient testing (also known as point-of-care testing) is described as an inquiry performed during the consultation with quick availability of data to make immediate and informed decisions about patient treatment, and it has received a lot of attention in the previous 15 years.
Near-patient testing has the potential to enhance outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness in primary care by allowing for early diagnosis, communication of diagnosis, and disease treatment. Other potential benefits include eliminating health disparities by making services available to underserved socioeconomic or ethnic groups. In general care, simple urine testing strips and blood glucose measures are standard, but more complex near-patient testing has been limited to anticoagulant monitoring, diabetes management, and C-reactive protein and Helicobacter pylori testing.
Advantages of near-patient testing
The relative immediacy of results is one of the primary advantages of NPT over laboratory testing. Some clinicians believe that this will allow them to initiate treatment more rapidly and reduce the patient's wait time. It may help lower the patient's frequency of outpatient appointments and clinic visits.
Several NPT devices require very little specimen preparation or collection (in some cases using a finger prick specimen of blood). Furthermore, the analysis time is frequently relatively short, and by definition, the equipment is close to the patient, reducing specimen and report transfer time.
Technology advances and ease of use of NPT
The recent increase in NPT is due in part to technological advancements in the design of analyzers. With the introduction of microchips, computerization, and miniaturization, it has become easier to bring analyses closer to the patient and perform them by less educated professionals or by the patients themselves. Biosensors, electrodes, and dry and solid phase chemistry reagents are all used in current NPT devices. Solid phase chemistry incorporates sample separation devices and analytical reagents into a single assay element, and reaction chemistries are frequently followed by reflectance photometry or front-face fluorescence.
These can enable small sample and reagent amounts, short assay response times, the convenience of use and disposal of old reagents, simultaneous measurement of many analytes, and possibly less technical skill. This improved tech helps in point-of-care blood testing.
Cost-effective
Lowered turnaround time may result in lower total costs if illness episodes are curtailed and transportation costs, such as courier fees, are reduced. However, NPT may be more expensive than central laboratory testing on a direct charge basis, including capital costs, due to test duplication and the economies of scale that occur from central laboratory testing. When commencing on NPT, reagent and machine expenses, quality control material costs, maintenance costs, report forms and results storage costs, and training costs may all need to be considered. Labour expenses are more difficult to evaluate in NPT, but may include nursing staff; however, this must be balanced against potential savings from on-call or out-of-hours laboratory staff costs.
If near-patient testing is to be introduced in primary care, program quality assurance will be a critical suggestion. This will entail both internal and external quality control. To reduce medical errors, guidelines also urge quality assurance of near-patient testing, as well as a framework for continuous quality improvement. The guidelines cover quality assurance, the accreditation procedure for healthcare professionals, and a buyer's guide to POC testing devices.
Beyond patient pleasure, near-patient testing provides a variety of potential benefits, however, its full integration and implementation potential have yet to be realised. To assess benefits in difficult outcomes and cost-effectiveness, rigorous evaluations of transferring this technology into primary care are still required.
We are excited to announce the launch of The Agilis Reader, which will complement our tried-and-true sensitive assay production service. This combination meets market demand for a Point of Care test that is rapid, extremely sensitive, and completely quantitative for use in a wide range of clinical and non-clinical applications.
The new AgPlus Diagnostic platform will be able to address a wide range of challenges faced by the healthcare industries for near-patient testing.
