Point-of-care testing in critical care medicine: Improving outcomes, cost effectiveness, and turnaround time

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is testing carried out at or near the patient's bedside. POCT devices have provided rapid and reliable testing performed both in healthcare settings and at home. These devices serve to augment or supplement the function of existing laboratory-based devices. As advances in technology are implemented, newer point-of-care testing devices are applied in different medical fields. The use of POCT devices may provide a cost-effective approach to diagnostic medicine, as studies have shown that performance measurements such as length-of-stay (LOS), therapeutic turnaround time (TTAT) and mortality can be improved. For critical care medicine, these measurements play a very important role, since not only do they determine the monetary costs, but they also determine the cost in lives.