The discriminative ability of a diagnostic procedure is called diagnostic accuracy, and a number of quantitative measures out of which sensitivity and specificity are mostly used in the biomedical literature can express it. Each diagnostic-accuracy measure relates to some specific aspects of a diagnostic procedure....

Recent studies of D-dimer as a “rule-out” test for deep venous thrombosis (DVT) frequently have used duplex ultrasound rather than venography as the gold standard. Because duplex ultrasound has limited ability to image the calf veins, there is potential for ultrasound studies to classify patients with calf DVT as...

As point-of-care applications of lab testing demand more rapid and clinically integrated order entry and results-reporting processes, it becomes paramount for the laboratory to investigate entire clinical processes. Direct observation and process mapping of these clinical applications – end to end - are "lean" tools...

Applications of point-of-care testing (POCT) for diagnostic biomarker measurement in healthcare have increased significantly in recent years in a wide range of clinical scenarios. These include infectious disease, critical care, cardiology and other areas of emergency medicine. Traditionally, routine clinical...

In an exclusive acutecaretesting.org interview, Dr Mario Plebani, Head of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the University Hospital of Padova, Italy and international patient safety advocate, talks about how laboratory, clinicians and manufacturers can work together to reduce errors in testing and diagnosing...

With the use of a new Data Management System (DMS) software program [1], the majority of Point Of Care Testing (POCT) equipment throughout the Waikato District Health Board region has been connected to the Laboratory Information System (LIS) and the Hospital Information System (HIS). Prior to the new DMS, viewing...

Introduction of point–of-care testing (POCT) in hospitals requires the use of principles of change management. Manufacturers can support this process. E-learning programs adapted to the local situation with regular updates, a centralized accreditation and user-registration system and service level agreements are...

Maintaining lasting progress in laboratory test utilization is difficult to do without a reminder tool for providers. Since implementation of a quarterly physician report card in 2003, we have seen sustained improvement in the ordering of wellness tests in an ambulatory care network in the United States for over four...

Reprinted from AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CRITICAL CARE, November 2006, Volume 15, No 6, 595-599 Hudson TL, Dukes SF, Reilly K. Use of local anesthesia for arterial puncture. Copyright with permission from American Journal of Critical Care BACKGROUND Except for intravenous therapy, arterial access is the most common...

Tartu University Hospital has improved the quality of blood gas testing in its clinical laboratory and critical care units by introducing an automatic system for blood gas analysis. Not only did the quality of processes in the preanalytical phase improve, but also the automatic calculation of pO₂(A-a), for APACHE...