POC Device Suggestions for a POL

Hi! Would an MLS/MLT run the tests or non lab personnel? Thanks,
Mary

I have used the Piccolo Xpress by Abaxis/Zoetis for CMP and BMP. They have a waived CMP, BMP and lipid panel. I haven't used the lipid panel before, the CMP and BMP are good but we are having issues with quality control potassium running too high. 

CMP & BMP, Lipid Panel-Piccolo Xpress (we bought it for the Ebola response team, but never got to use it once validated)
CBC- Sysmex pocHi (used in Maternal/Fetal Unit)
A1C- Abbott Afinion2 (used in our mobile health van) pro: 3 minute to result time and quiet.

Personnel has not been decided yet. Alot depends on the type of equipment.  
Most likely a Rad Tech and/or MLT. An MLS would have oversight. 

Shan -did you like the pocHi? Pros/Cons

Hi Kim,

Yes, the staff on the unit like it and tech support is great. I can't recall the last time we had an issue with it.  

Currently have a DCA Vantage for A1c (CLIA-waived) in a primary care with a heavy caseload of diabetic patients.  Easy to implement and has worked like a champ for the last 3+ years- operators MA, RN and LPN.  3rd party QC Nova-One with 6-month open stability at 2-8C.   6 minutes to test result. During review of both analyzers found the Abott Afinion was much more expensive....

If you did have a COC lab, would a hospital-based pathologist be listed as the director?
Thank you & Happy Holidays

Amanda
The medical director would most likely be a physician from the group that wants to take the course hours.  our hospital-based pathologist are all getting full since they can only carry 5 labs. The POL lab is just a brainstorm right now, and not sure that they will really want it once they see the work involved.

Hello,

My physicians group we have a lead physician that is the Lab Director and I was hired to help keep everyone in compliance and to help them.  When I brought on board the group was looking to add several tests that you have listed.

CBC we have the Horiba Micros ABX 60, this was in place prior to my hire.  It isn't a horrible machine, however ours are designed to only do a 3 part differential, so there are quite a few that we have to send out as we are only running moderate complexity.   I see the pocHi mentioned, unless things have changed I think it really is only good for healthy patients normal patients otherwise it won't give a result.  We did look at the Sysmex 450XN and in the future the plan is to use those instead.

For CMP, BMP, Lipids the group originally wanted to do the Piccolo's (prior to my hire) however you can only do 1 panel/cartridge at a time and it does take some time.  It was decided after they had bought the instrument that it wouldn't fit the needs as we were placing them in busy practices and expected to run as many as possible in clinic.

We do not do TSH or Vitamin D but we have a FastPack IP for PSA.  The FastPack IP is able to perform both TSH and Vitamin D and honestly isn't a very difficult instrument to use.  Again only 1 at a time and for PSA it is 11 minutes to do the test.

A1c's we use the DCA Vantage, which is a work horse.  Some of the clinics have had the instruments well past the warranty and they are still running well.

I work as a Technical Consultant for a small independent POL.  They have a Piccolo for chemistries, a DCA for HgbA1C and a NanoEntek FREND for TSH and PSA.  The FREND can also run Vitamin D.  It's a pretty slick instrument, similar to an Alere Triage meter, if you're familiar with those.  The Piccolo and DCA are waived, so that's nice.  Unfortunately, the FREND is non-waived.