Star-shl has a successful CRP POCT service in almost 400 general practices – and POCT continues to develop. We researched new POCT applications in various living labs. After carrying out more than 2,400 new point-of-care tests, we have completed the conclusions.
Not everything is a good fit for our clients, not by a long
shot. In the past two years, we have been working hard to
implement the POCT living labs while incorporating input
from new IT applications. All these efforts aim to elevate
the quality of POCT in GP care to an even higher level, in
accordance with normal laboratory standards and the
guidelines for
POCT in GP care
(NHG-NVKC-NVMM-SAN).
The living labs were also based on a series of overview
articles on various POCT applications in FarmaMagazine and
on
www.poct.nl, also compiled in a booklet on the topic, only available
in Dutch:
‘Het ándere lab; point-of-care testing in de
huisartsenzorg’.
And it was a success!
We evaluated the living labs after more than 2,400 new tests
were carried out in 14 GP practices.
In this context, we worked closely with IQ healthcare, Radboudumc, distributors and international suppliers of POCT equipment, IT partners, some of our most innovative GPs, GP-based nurse specialists, GP assistants and, of course, the patients themselves.
We have evaluated the various POCT living labs, both formally for the outside world and internally for our own use. This resulted in an internal report and an article that has since been submitted to an international, peer-reviewed journal.
Some patient experiences:
Patient experiences with HbA1c POCT (percentage of patients)
Patient experiences regarding professional glucose POCT (percentage of patients):
Patients gave exceptionally high marks for the HbA1c consultation and the professional glucose consultation:
Based on the very positive user experiences, the frequent use, and the positive information on quality assurance, Star-shl has decided to gradually expand its POCT services. HbA1c POCT will become available for the +1,000 general practitioners and GP-based nurse specialists who are already successfully using our CRP POCT service. In addition, professional glucose POCT, haemoglobin POCT, and automatic urine POCT are being rolled out in a select number of GP practices. For now, health insurers are not giving any room to serve more patients who want this innovation within the short term. Note: urine POCT could be used more widely once some technical imperfections are resolved. We are currently working with the supplier to address this.
One of the other key results is streamlining and implementing our internal POCT organisation. This is an ongoing process, but significant progress has been made on professionalisation thanks to the efforts of many. POCT inventory management was recently transferred to a new system, accompanied by a major expansion of functionalities and links to the other IT systems in the organisation. The new system also includes comprehensive malfunction and maintenance logging. Moreover, it is also used to register possible complaints. Many processes have now been digitalised, leading to significantly increased efficiency in the work done by our employees. Despite the growing number of devices and the increasing volume of different test types, digitalisation has made it possible to maintain the same configuration of POCT staff. It has also led to a surge in quality.