title: Clinical governance and point-of-care testing at health provider level.
abstract: Clinical governance provides a quality assurance and safety framework. A large proportion of point-of-care testing (POCT) activities in New Zealand are not subject to the same levels of regulation and accreditation that must be met by conventional medical laboratory testing. Providers who use POCT for diagnosis, monitoring and treatment need to develop programmes that are subject to effective clinical governance to ensure that POCT devices are suitable and safe for the clinical setting in which they are being used, and test results are consistently accurate and precise, ie reliable, at all times. POCT needs to be integrated with clinical management protocols and test results need to be accessible to healthcare personnel. Effective clinical governance of POCT by providers requires recognition by top management that the scale and scope of testing within New Zealand is large and expanding, and that there are associated risks and costs. Systematic input from laboratory, clinical and managerial stakeholders, and compliance with guidelines and standards is required to ensure that POCT is safe, clinically justified and cost effective.
authors.affiliation: Point-of-Care Testing Coordinator, Whangarei Hospital, Northland District Health Board, Private Bag 9742 Whangarei, New Zealand. geoff.herd@northlanddhb.org.nz.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Herd
authors.forename: Samarina M A
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Musaad
mesh_terms: D054976:Clinical Governance; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*