Effect of point of care testing on length of stay in an adult emergency department
Abstract
Devices are now available that are practical for point of care testing (PCT) in hospital settings. Previous studies in clinical settings, however, have failed to demonstrate a reduction in patients' length of stay (LOS) associated with the use of PCT. This randomized controlled study compared PCT with central laboratory testing in a hospital Emergency Department to assess the difference in patients' LOS. Patients randomized to PCT (n = 93) had a median stay of 3 h, 28 min (interquartile range [IR] 2:28 to 5:30), while those allocated to the central laboratory (n = 87) had a median stay of 4 h, 22 min (IR 3:04 to 5:47). The median stay associated with PCT was significantly shorter. Among patients who were destined to be discharged home, there was also a significantly shorter stay, but not among those who were destined to be admitted. It was concluded that the use of PCT can achieve significant time savings in an Emergency Department.
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Point-of-care testing has been shown to lead to shorter length of stay in some studies but not in all.
“In the ED, point-of-care testing has been shown to lead to shorter length of stay in some studies, [15–18] but not in all [19–21].”
From Shorter laboratory turnaround time is associated with shorter emergency department length of stay: a retrospective cohort study (2022) · cites this paper as [15]
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- Authors
- Murray, R. P., Leroux, M., Sabga, E., Palatnick, W., & Ludwig, L.
- Affiliations
- Health Sciences Centre (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Ludwig, Louis
- Venue
- The Journal of Emergency Medicine
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1999-09
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 811-814
- ISSN
- 0736-4679 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2004093606
- Cited by
- 71
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 2 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Emergency Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Clinical Laboratory Practices and Quality Control
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Emergency and Acute Care Studies
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Emergency Medical Services › Healthcare Operations and Scheduling Optimization
- Keywords
- point-of-care testing, length of hospital stay, emergency department, central laboratory testing, hospitalization, discharge, time savings
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Canada, Emergency Service, Hospital, Female, Hospitals, Teaching, Humans, Length of Stay, Male, Middle Aged, Point-of-Care Systems
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