Is Point-of-Care Testing QC needed?

In the past QC for Point-of-Care testing (POCT) has been considered to be unnecessary. However, research carried out by the Ontario Laboratory Accreditation Body has found that POCT is the largest source of error in the hospital.

What is POCT?

POCT is typically carried out at the patient’s bedside in hospital departments such as; the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit, as well as a Polyclinic, GP Office or Outpatient Clinic. As a result, when selecting appropriate IQC material for POCT there are a number of key characteristics you must consider.

Considerations

The Randox Acusera range of Quality Controls offer many advantages to laboratories who rely on Point-of-Care testing. The following characteristics outline how our Acusera controls, including, Blood Gas, Liquid Cardiac, Liquid HbA1c and Liquid Urine, are ideal for use in POCT;

• Format of the material – These controls are presented in a liquid ready-to-use format, therefore requiring no preparation.
• Value assignment – all values are accurately assigned using data from thousands of independent labs, saving you valuable time.
• Third party controls – all Randox Acusera Quality Controls are manufactured independently from any specific instrument or method
• Storage – these controls are in a liquid ready-to-use format, as such these can be easily shipped and stored.
• Stability – With the exception of our Blood Gas control, all Randox Acusera controls suitable for use in POCT have a 30 day open vial stability.

A white paper outlining the importance of Quality Control in Point-of-Care Testing has been published and is now available for Download. For further information on POCT and Randox QC please email acusera@randox.com.