As some of these resources are from outside Canada, please keep in mind that the types of point-of care tests available, scope of practice, standards, and guidance will vary. Ensure you are familiar with ACP’s Standards of Practice for Laboratory and Point of Care Testing (POCT) and Guidance for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians for Laboratory and Point of Care Testing (POCT), and consider the resources below in context with them.
Here you’ll find the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health’s (CADTH) best evidence on point-of-care testing. These range from short reports to in-depth systematic reviews, recommendation reports, and implementation tools geared to translating research into action.
This guideline was prepared for non-laboratory healthcare providers, outside of the auspices of Alberta Health Services, who use or rely on point-of-care laboratory testing (POCT) for their patients. This includes the use of POCT in clinical practice/office settings, occupational medicine clinics, pharmacies, private long-term care facilities, etc.
This guideline is intended to assist infection prevention and control professionals and all other healthcare providers responsible for developing policies and procedures related to routine practices and additional precautions in all healthcare settings whether in acute or long-term care, ambulatory care, home care, or prehospital care settings.
The notifiable disease management guidelines are developed by the Alberta government with input and advice from medical officers of health, public health nurses, public health inspectors, laboratories, and medical infectious disease specialists. The guidelines are provided to support practitioners in meeting the communicable disease management requirements in the Public Health Act.
Choosing Wisely Canada is the national voice for reducing unnecessary tests and treatments in health care. It inspires and engages healthcare professionals to take leadership in reducing unnecessary tests, treatments, and procedures, and enables them with simple tools and resources that make it easier to choose wisely.
Written by former Dean of the University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, James P. Kehrer, PhD, and current Executive Director, Innovation at the University of Alberta Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Deborah E. James, PhD, this article examines educational standards, access to laboratory tests, regulatory issues, and the role of pharmacists in point-of-care testing.
The Medical Devices Bureau of the Therapeutic Products Directorate, Health Canada, is the Canadian federal regulator responsible for licensing medical devices in accordance with the Food and Drugs Act and Regulations and the Medical Devices Regulations. The Bureau maintains a database of all licensed Class II, III, and IV medical devices offered for sale in Canada.
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to users of the technology and to describe the key quality requirements for the performance of point-of-care testing (POCT) to ensure the safety and quality of test results. It sets out the best practice guidelines for governance, quality systems, staff training, safety, environmental issues, specimen, and result integrity, related to the performance of POCT.
The NACDS Community Pharmacy-based Point-of-Care Testing Certificate Program provides an opportunity to gain the skills and information necessary to develop a testing program for influenza, Group A Streptococcus, HIV, and Hepatitis C. The target audience for the certificate program is community pharmacists including students, academia, and pharmacy association staff. While the program is primarily designed for community pharmacists, non-pharmacists interested in point-of-care testing are also welcome to complete the program.
This article focuses on error prevention in point-of-care testing through quality control and risk assessment.
Developed by the American College of Physicians, this document includes elements of a waived testing program that pharmacists may find helpful.
ACP does not endorse any one specific resource or educational program for point-of-care testing.
