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 POINT-OF-CARE TESTING IS THE TOPIC OF LIFESCAN-SPONSORED CONFERENCE MILPITAS, Calif., December 9, 1997 - To improve the efficiency and quality of care in hospitals and other multi-patient settings, patient testing is increasingly shifting from the laboratory to the "point of care," including the bedside and nursing station. While this trend creates greater efficiencies for the hospital, it spotlights an education gap among nursing and other patient care staff unused to complying with the regulatory and safety issues surrounding point-of-care testing. In an effort to address this educational challenge, the Institute for Continuing Healthcare Education recently sponsored a comprehensive continuing educational seminar, "The Road to Point-of-Care Testing: Making the Trip Easier," attended by about 80 nurses and laboratory technicians from top U.S. healthcare centers, from November 21-23, in Atlanta. The seminar participants were trained in the maze of testing compliance and regulatory issues surrounding decentralized blood glucose testing. LifeScan, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company and the nation's leading maker of blood glucose monitoring products for home and hospital use for people with diabetes, provided an educational grant for the seminar, for which participants earned continuing education credits. According to LifeScan's Steve Hibbard, manager of hospital account programs, "This conference was dedicated solely to this crucial testing issue. As the leader in the industry, we at LifeScan feel we have a responsibility to participate in educating nurses and other healthcare providers about the changing environment of point-of-care testing." The participants at this conference learned about point-of-care testing issues such as: How to develop the right point-of-care testing procedures for individual hospitals; Training healthcare providers in point-of-care testing; Improving patient outcomes with point-of-care testing; Meeting patient testing and healthcare needs; Regulatory compliance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA); Quality control; Evaluating the cost of a point-of-care program; Enforcing point-of-care testing procedures. According to a key conference speaker, Sharon S. Ehrmeyer, Ph.D., MT (ASCP), professor of pathology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, "The usefulness of blood glucose monitoring depends on the accuracy of the results [and] proper technique, and proper technique depends on the accuracy of training." Belinda Johnson, MT, field technical support specialist for LifeScan, and past regional laboratory supervisor for Kaiser Permanente Health Group, Inc., discussed the CLIA regulations and procedures. Johnson also lectured on how participants can meet these requirements using LifeScan products, such as the new SureStepPro (Professional Blood Glucose Management System, which are designed to make compliance easier. LifeScan, a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of diagnostic companies, is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with diabetes. The number-one brand in hospitals, more physicians, diabetes educators and pharmacists recommend LifeScan systems than any other brand. Every day, more than two million people rely on LifeScan systems for simple testing and accurate results. LifeScan can be found at http://www.LifeScan.com, on the World Wide Web. |
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