Changes in utilization of intraoperative laboratory testing associated with the introduction of point-of-care testing devices in an academic department.
BACKGROUND
Availability of point-of-care testing (POCT) technology may lead to unnecessary testing and expense without improving outcomes. We tested the hypothesis that frequency of intraoperative blood testing (IBT) would increase in association with installation of POCT devices in our surgical suites.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of 38,115 electronic anesthesia records for cases performed in the 1 yr before and 1 yr after POCT installation. For each case, the frequency of IBT was tabulated and the change in frequency of IBT between the study periods was calculated for individual anesthesiologists, for the department as a whole, and for clusters of anesthetizing locations.


RESULTS
For the department as a whole, there was no significant change between the before and after study periods in the 13% proportion of cases in which IBT was obtained. For cases in which IBT was used, there was no significant increase in the number of IBTs per case.


CONCLUSIONS
We found no significant increase in the overall utilization of IBT associated with POCT presence in noncardiothoracic operating rooms.
Wax
David B
DB
Department of Anesthesiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York City, New York 10029, USA. david.wax@mssm.edu
Reich
David L
DL
D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D001784:Blood Gas Analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D002984:Clinical Laboratory Information Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006403:Hematologic Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007755:Laboratories, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D016343:Monitoring, Intraoperative / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends