title: Patient satisfaction with point-of-care laboratory testing: report of a quality improvement program in an ambulatory practice of an academic medical center.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Point-of-care laboratory testing (POCT) offers reduced turnaround time and may facilitate medical decision-making and improve clinical operations. However, there is very little published data concerning the impact of POCT on patient satisfaction.
  
  
  METHODS
  We implemented POCT for hemoglobin A1c, lipid panel and comprehensive metabolic panel in a primary care practice and monitored patient satisfaction with on-site testing using an anonymous survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 97 surveys (65% response rate) were reviewed. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent) the mean response to the question "Compared with your past experiences of physician office visits that did not have on-site testing please rank your overall level of satisfaction with today's office visit" was 3.96. In 34 surveys a free text comment was included which was uniformly very positive.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study strongly indicates a high level of patient satisfaction with on-site POCT in a primary care setting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, United States; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Crocker
authors.forename: Elizabeth-Lee
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Lewandrowski
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lewandrowski
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gregory
authors.forename: Kent
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lewandrowski
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D001900:Boston; D019411:Clinical Laboratory Techniques / Q000592:standards*; D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin / Q000032:analysis; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D058996:Quality Improvement
chemical_list: D006442:Glycated Hemoglobin; D008055:Lipids; C517652:hemoglobin A1c protein, human
keywords: Comprehensive metabolic panel; Hemoglobin A1c; Lipid panel; Patient satisfaction; Point-of-care testing; Primary care