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Brief Summary

GUIDELINE TITLE

Management. Laboratory medicine practice guidelines: evidence-based practice for point-of-care testing.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE(S)

  • Jacobs E, Goldsmith B, Larrson L, Richardson H, St. Louis P. Management. In: Laboratory medicine practice guidelines: evidence-based practice for point-of-care testing. Washington (DC): National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB); 2006. p. 1-4. [22 references]

GUIDELINE STATUS

This is the current release of the guideline.

BRIEF SUMMARY CONTENT

 
RECOMMENDATIONS
 EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
 IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND AVAILABILITY
 DISCLAIMER

 Go to the Complete Summary

RECOMMENDATIONS

MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS

Definitions of the levels of evidence (I—III) and grades of the recommendation (A, B, C, I) are presented at the end of the "Major Recommendations" field.

Note from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) and the National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC): The Laboratory Medicine Practice Guidelines (LMPG) evidence-based practice for point-of-care testing sponsored by the NACB have been divided into individual summaries covering disease- and test-specific areas. In addition to the current summary, the following are available:

Quality Assurance and Medical Error

Does the application of quality assurance (QA) to point-of-care testing (POCT) reduce medical errors? (Literature Search 1– Refer to Appendix B - see the "Availability of Companion Documents" field)

Guideline 1. The guideline developers recommend that a formal process of QA of POCT be developed in support of risk management and a reduction in medical errors)
Strength/consensus of recommendation: B
Level of evidence: III
(expert opinion)

Does Management Improve the Quality of POCT?

Guideline 2. The guideline developers strongly recommend the use of an interdisciplinary committee to manage POCT (Literature Search 2 - Refer to Appendix B - see the "Availability of Companion Documents" field)
Strength/consensus of recommendation: A
Level of evidence: II and III
(time-controlled studies, descriptive studies, and expert opinion–consensus documents)

Guideline 3. The guideline developers strongly recommend training programs to improve the quality of POCT.
Strength/consensus of recommendation: A
Level of evidence: II
(cohort/case-controlled study and time-controlled study)

Guideline 4. The guideline developers recommend data management as a mechanism to improve the quality of POCT.
Strength/consensus of recommendation: B
Level of evidence: II and III
(time-controlled study and expert opinion)

Guideline 5. The guideline developers strongly recommend the use of Continuous Quality Improvement with Quality Indicator.
Strength/consensus of recommendation: A
Level of evidence: II
(time-controlled studies)

Definitions:

Levels of Evidence

  1. Evidence includes consistent results from well-designed, well-conducted studies in representative populations.
  2. Evidence is sufficient to determine effects, but the strength of the evidence is limited by the number, quality, or consistency of the individual studies; generalizability to routine practice; or indirect nature of the evidence.
  3. Evidence is insufficient to assess the effects on health outcomes because of limited number or power of studies, important flaws in their design or conduct, gaps in the chain of evidence, or lack of information.

Strength of Recommendations

A - The National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) strongly recommends adoption; there is good evidence that it improves important health outcomes and concludes that benefits substantially outweigh harms.

B - The NACB recommends adoption; there is at least fair evidence that it improves important health outcomes and concludes that benefits outweigh harms.

C - The NACB recommends against adoption; there is evidence that it is ineffective or that harms outweigh benefits.

I - The NACB concludes that the evidence is insufficient to make recommendations; evidence that it is effective is lacking, of poor quality, or conflicting, and the balance of benefits and harms cannot be determined.

CLINICAL ALGORITHM(S)

None provided

EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS

TYPE OF EVIDENCE SUPPORTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS

The type of supporting evidence is identified and graded for each recommendation (see "Major Recommendations").

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION AND AVAILABILITY

BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE(S)

  • Jacobs E, Goldsmith B, Larrson L, Richardson H, St. Louis P. Management. In: Laboratory medicine practice guidelines: evidence-based practice for point-of-care testing. Washington (DC): National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB); 2006. p. 1-4. [22 references]

ADAPTATION

Not applicable: The guideline was not adapted from another source.

DATE RELEASED

2006

GUIDELINE DEVELOPER(S)

National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry - Professional Association

SOURCE(S) OF FUNDING

National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry

GUIDELINE COMMITTEE

Guidelines Committee

COMPOSITION OF GROUP THAT AUTHORED THE GUIDELINE

Committee Members: Robert H. Christenson, Ph.D., FACB, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; William Clarke, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Ann Gronowski, Ph.D., FACB, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Catherine A. Hammett-Stabler, Ph.D., FACB, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Ellis Jacobs, Ph.D., FACB, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York, USA; Steve Kazmierczak, Ph.D., FACB, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA; Kent Lewandrowski, M.D., Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Christopher Price, Ph.D., FACB, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; David Sacks, M.D., FACB, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Robert Sautter, Ph.D., Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Greg Shipp, M.D., Nanosphere, Northbrook, Illinois, USA; Lori Sokoll, Ph.D., FACB, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Ian Watson, Ph.D., FACB, University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, UK; William Winter, M.D., FACB, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA; Marcia L. Zucker, Ph.D., FACB, International Technidyne Corporation (ITC), Edison, New Jersey, USA

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES/CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Not stated

GUIDELINE STATUS

This is the current release of the guideline.

GUIDELINE AVAILABILITY

Electronic copies: Available in Portable Document Format (PDF) from the National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry (NACB) Web site.

Print copies: National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry publications are available through American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Press. To make a purchase or request a catalog, contact AACC Customer Service at 202-857-0717 or custserv@aacc.org.

AVAILABILITY OF COMPANION DOCUMENTS

PATIENT RESOURCES

None available

NGC STATUS

This NGC summary was completed by ECRI Institute on August 9, 2007. The information was verified by the guideline developer on September 24, 2007.

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

National Academy of Clinical Biochemistry's (NACB) terms for reproduction of guidelines are posted with each set of guidelines.

DISCLAIMER

NGC DISCLAIMER

The National Guideline Clearinghouse™ (NGC) does not develop, produce, approve, or endorse the guidelines represented on this site.

All guidelines summarized by NGC and hosted on our site are produced under the auspices of medical specialty societies, relevant professional associations, public or private organizations, other government agencies, health care organizations or plans, and similar entities.

Guidelines represented on the NGC Web site are submitted by guideline developers, and are screened solely to determine that they meet the NGC Inclusion Criteria which may be found at http://www.guideline.gov/about/inclusion.aspx .

NGC, AHRQ, and its contractor ECRI Institute make no warranties concerning the content or clinical efficacy or effectiveness of the clinical practice guidelines and related materials represented on this site. Moreover, the views and opinions of developers or authors of guidelines represented on this site do not necessarily state or reflect those of NGC, AHRQ, or its contractor ECRI Institute, and inclusion or hosting of guidelines in NGC may not be used for advertising or commercial endorsement purposes.

Readers with questions regarding guideline content are directed to contact the guideline developer.


 

 

   
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