Implementation of point-of-care testing in a general internal medicine practice: A confirmation study.

BACKGROUND:In a previous study we reported on the impact of point-of-care testing (POCT) on practice efficiency in an academic primary care practice that was established to develop new models of care delivery. Here we report a follow-on confirmation study in a more typical primary care practice in the community. METHODS:In this observational study with a retrospective comparison analysis we measured metrics of practice efficiency on two patient cohorts: those that did not receive POCT and those that did. RESULTS:In the patient cohort that received POCT there was a 99% reduction in letters to patients (p<0.001), a 75% decrease in calls to patients (not significant due to small numbers), a 50% reduction in follow-up tests per visit (p=0.044) and a 38% reduction in follow-up visits due to abnormal test results (p=0.178). Financial analysis including testing costs, revenues and efficiency gains to the practice demonstrated a net financial benefit of $11.90-14.74 per patient visit. CONCLUSIONS:Our data confirm the earlier published findings that POCT can improve metrics of practice efficiency in a primary care practice.