Point-of-Care Testing 101: Get Started Today

Turn your pharmacy into a point-of-care testing site.

Point-of-care testing can be profitable, but there are steps pharmacists must take to ensure that their pharmacy is eligible to offer these key services to their community.

There are 4 main goals for POCT: identify disease, improve access to care, monitor parameters for different disease states, and modify patient behaviors. During a presentation at the National Community Pharmacists Association 2022 Annual Convention & Expo, held October 1 through 4 in Kansas City, Missouri, Matthew J. Meyer, PharmD, owner and pharmacist in charge at Hospital Pharmacy West discussed these goals, as well as the ideal POCT site characteristics, which can be broken down into 6 separate categories.

These categories are accessibility without a scheduled appointment; extended hours of availability; staff that is proficient in sample collection, preparation, and operation of analyzers; qualified providers to interpret results in context to patient history; immediate access to prescription and OTC therapies; and prompt reporting and follow-up with patients, providers, and other required agencies.

Pharmacies, Meyer said, are great point-of-care testing sites because they typically already possess the 6 categories that make for a great point-of-care testing site.

“Key partnerships in the point-of-care testing game, you can have those pharmacy wholesalers, your state associations, physicians are all going to be huge vitals for us in order to be more successful for your testing programs,” Meyer explained.
Pharmacy wholesalers provide things like analyzers, testing supplies, policies and procedures, required documentation, and personal protective equipment which provides turnkey solutions for point-of-care testing services in the pharmacy. They also provide access to education and training materials.

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