Deon Lingervelder, Hendrik Koffijberg, Ron Kusters, Maarten J IJzerman  

 Pharmacoecon Open. 2021;5(2):157-173. 

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is an essential diagnostic technology for optimal patient care. Despite this, its implementation has been slow. In this systematic review, the authors analyse literature on the health economic impact of introducing POCT to assess if poor POCT uptake is related to lack of evidence. 

The authors searched 396 publications, of which 44 met the inclusion criteria. The group reported that most evaluations were performed in a primary care setting and that two thirds of the evaluations were on POC tests implemented with a diagnostic purpose. Additionally, more than 75% of evaluations concluded that POCT is recommended for implementation. 

The authors found that the uptake of POCT in many countries is low despite health economic evidence indicating its benefits. They concluded that the lack of evidence for POCT is not the primary barrier to its implementation; the majority of evaluations recommend implementation of POCT and that POCT is proven to be a valuable counterpart to traditional laboratory testing. 

The full publication can be accessed here. 

COL-12754 08/2022