The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) has published 'Quality practices in non-instrumented point-of-care testing: an instructional manual and resources for healthcare workers'.
This instructional guideline delivers laboratory science concepts and activities with the goal of increasing knowledge and quality of laboratory testing for testing personnel with little or no laboratory background.
The guide, abbreviated to POCT08-A, is designed to make the basic principles of good laboratory practice accessible to all the diverse personnel performing non-instrumented tests at the point of care.
It contains discussion and examples of basic practices that support accurate testing, and an extensive set of forms and protocols to use as resources for those managing such testing.
Aspects of good laboratory practice addressed include: roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the testing system; selecting, learning, proving, and implementing new tests; avoiding errors before, during and after testing; building systems and procedures to maintain test quality; and record keeping to limit risk and to document performance.
POCT08-A is an atypical document for CLSI because it targets healthcare workers who administer point-of-care testing (POCT), but have little or no specific training in laboratory practices.
These non-instrumented tests are simple devices such as urine dipsticks, fecal occult blood test cards, and rapid flu tests that are read by eye, without a reader or other test instrument.
Complicated technology is required for a simple POCT test and even simple tests are used to make important medical decisions.
Non-instrumented technologies may lack the robust fail-check mechanisms of tests performed by automated instruments, which makes the quality and accuracy of results more dependent on the test operator and manual quality checks.
According to the CLSI, accessible descriptions and examples in POCT08-A are designed not only to provide knowledge, but also to build skills, understanding and attitudes conducive to good laboratory practice.
The document is intended to help facilities and individual workers provide accurate, reliable, clinically useful POCT services to improve the speed, accessibility, and quality of patient care.
This document will be helpful to heathcare workers who perform non-instrumented POCT, such as medical technologists and other laboratory professionals, nurses and medical personnel, non-medically trained workers, and manufacturers and distributors of non-instrumented point-of-care tests.
Sites and disciplines employing non-instrumented POCT include, but are not limited to, physician offices, schools, sports organisations, community service and outreach programs, home care and telemedicine.
