Point-of-Care Testing and Equity

In practice, implementing POCT starts by outlining gaps in the delivery of laboratory services such as can be identified by mapping out regional small world networks (SWNs: geospatial health care ecosystems),2 which can be used to assess health care services: for example, hospitals and ambulance transport routes. POCT devices can be linked to smartphones and tablets with Web- or cloud-based connectivity (eg, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth), allowing automatic capture and storage of results.2 Beyond communities in rural and remote areas geographically lacking in adequate health care services there are communities with higher levels of deprivation: some with nonexistent medical and laboratory services, others being socioeconomically marginalized within established systems, and some displaced by natural or man-made disasters. To address both acute and chronic diseases, actual delivery of POCT requires governance and policies that support sustainable funding frameworks, quality and risk management systems, training, supply chain, connectivity, and equity assessments.