ArticleBMJ open2020
Point-of-care blood tests during home visits by out-of-hours primary care clinicians; a mixed methods evaluation of a service improvement.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Use of qualitative and mixed methods research in diagnostic technology evaluation and implementation: insights from a systematic review.Diagnostic and prognostic research · 2026Review
- A pilot point-of-care kidney disease clinic in primary care to pharmacologically optimise people with chronic kidney disease (PROTECT KIDNEY).Family practice · 2025Article
- Point-of-care C-reactive protein testing in general practice out-of-hours services: tool or trap?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Implementing in-vitro diagnostic point-of-care tests in community health care: how can we make this work?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2025Article
- Community Point of Care Testing in Diagnosing and Managing Chronic Kidney Disease.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Barriers, enablers, benefits, and drawbacks to point-of-care testing: a survey of the general practice out-of-hours service in Scotland.BJGP open · 2024Article
- Point-of-care testing and antibiotics prescribing in out-of-hours general practice: a register-based study in Denmark.BMC primary care · 2024Article
- Development over time in point-of-care test use in Danish daytime and out-of-hours general practice: a register-based study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2023Article
- Facilitators and barriers of the implementation of point-of-care devices for cardiometabolic diseases: a scoping review.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Facilitators and barriers to in vitro diagnostics implementation in resource-limited settings: A scoping review.African journal of primary health care & family medicine · 2023Article
- The Impact of Point-of-Care Blood C-Reactive Protein Testing on Prescribing Antibiotics in Out-of-Hours Primary Care: A Mixed Methods Evaluation.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Clinician perspectives on having point of care tests made available to them during out of hours home visiting.BMC family practice · 2021Article
- Mental healthcare clinician engagement with point of care testing; a qualitative study.BMC psychiatry · 2021Article
- Ambulatory Management of Worsening Heart Failure: Current Strategies and Future Directions.Heart international · 2021Review
- Effect of point of care blood testing on physical health check completion in mental health services: mixed-methods evaluation.BJPsych open · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesWe aimed to evaluate test usage and patient and clinician experience following the introduction of point-of-care (POC) blood tests into a primary care out-of-hours service.
designA mixed methods service evaluation comprising quantitative records of the clinical contexts of tests taken and qualitative interviews with clinicians. Research permissions and governance were obtained for patient interviews.
settingOut-of-hours primary care.
participantsAll patients requiring home visits from the service during the implementation period.
interventionsThe i-STAT POC blood test platform was introduced to two bases providing home visits for a period of 8 months. Venous blood samples were used and two cartridges were available. The CHEM8 cartridge measures sodium, potassium, chloride, total carbon dioxide (TCO2), anion gap, ionised calcium, glucose, urea, creatinine, haematocrit and haemoglobin. The CG4 cartridge measures lactate, pH, PaO2 and PCO2, TCO2, bicarbonate, base excess and oxygen saturation. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The proportion of home visits where tests were taken, the clinical contexts of those tests, the extent to which clinicians felt the tests had influenced their decisions, time taken to perform the test and problems encountered. Clinician and patient experiences of using POC tests.
resultsi-STAT POC tests were infrequently used, with successful tests taken at just 47 contacts over 8 months of implementation. The patients interviewed felt that testing had been beneficial for their care. Clinician interviews suggested barriers to POC tests, including practical challenges, concerns about time, doubt over whether they would improve clinical decision making and concern about increased medicolegal risk. Suggestions for improving adoption included sharing learning, adopting a whole team approach and developing protocols for usage.
conclusionsPOC tests were not successfully adopted by an out-of-hours home visiting service in Oxfordshire. While some clinicians felt they could not add value, in other cases they resulted in improved patient experience. Adoption could be promoted by improving technical, team and education factors.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.