Point of Care Teams

Zach,

We meet with two different audiences, Clinic personnel and Surgery Center/Inpatient representatives. For Clinics, the lab is invited to standing RN Supervisor meetings twice a month. The group includes nursing, regulatory, infection prevention, sometimes pharmacy and radiology if they have something to discuss.  For the Surgery Center/Inpatient units. we meet monthly with a group represented by Nursing Directors, hospital administrators, anesthesia, pharmacy, radiology, & preadmissions.

With the Clinic supervisors, we review 1) specimen rejection rates, give updates on testing changes, request clinics to perform self audits, discuss training and competency needs and regulatory items.  A wide variety of topics, many of which may be seasonal topics.

With the Surgery Center/Inpatient units, the topics cover a wide range of issues.  It is a round table discussion on new surgeons, unusual cases scheduled that may require atypical support from ancillary services, etc.  Unfortunately, although we have a standing rule of no "blind side" complaints, it still happens where a complaint is brought up and the ancillary service has no back ground information to go on.

We are fortunate that we are small enough and the culture is to resolve issues at the lowest possible level, so brainstorming, open discussions happen on an ongoing basis with only occasional need for someone higher up to be pulled in to weigh in.

In both cases, I am the primary representative, however I designate an alternate as needed.

Thanks for your feedback, Gregory. 

Gregory, do you have a team that reviews POC requests as well? This would be requests to add/change testing, instrumentation, new sites, etc.?

Zach, I'll answer your email here so I can share with everyone.

We have a POCT Advisory Committee at Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM). This committee is meant to convene quarterly or as needed depending on new test requests. The people who attend may change depending on the test requested. The purpose of this meeting is to allow experts across JHM to give input on new POC tests or instruments.  It is made up of the following roles:

1. Medical Director of POCT, Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM)

2. Manager of POCT, JHM

3. Director of Pediatric Services (Peds was our primary focus of POCT expansion at the time of inception of this committee)

4. Nursing Rep (we selected someone who is in charge of multiple outpatient sites)

5. Subject Matter Experts from Pathology depending on POCT request (i.e., molecular FLU and Strep testing request was brought to our Microbiology Director for input)

6. Lab Directors of each JH Hospital as applicable

7. Directors from the unit requesting the new POCT

This committee is comprised of members from each of our hospitals. Our subject matter experts primarily come from the Academic hospitals (they are 2 out of the 5 hospitals in our system)