Early Point-of-Care Testing at Triage Reduces Care Time in Stable Adult Emergency Department Patients

Background: Core laboratory testing may increase length of stay and delay care. Objectives: We compared length of emergency department (ED) care in patients receiving point-of-care testing (POCT) at triage vs. traditional core laboratory testing. Methods: We conducted a prospective, case-controlled trial of adult patients with prespecified conditions requiring laboratory testing and had POCT performed by a nurse after triage for: a basic metabolic panel, troponin I, lactate, INR (i-STAT System), urinalysis (Beckman Coulter Icon), or urine pregnancy test. Study patients were matched with controls based on clinical condition, gender, age, and time to be seen. Groups were compared with Wilcoxon rank–sum or Fisher's exact tests. Results: We matched 52 POCT study patients with 52 controls. Groups were similar in age, gender, clinical condition, time to be seen by a physician (3.3 h, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.2–4.4, vs. 3.1 h, 95% CI 2.2–4.5 h, in POCT and control patients, respectively; p = 0.84), use of imaging, and disposition. Of 52 study patients, 3 (5.8%, 95% CI 2.0–15.9) were immediately transferred to the critical care area to be urgently seen by an emergency physician. POCT patients had a significantly shorter median (interquartile range [IQR]) ED care time than matched controls (7.6, 95% CI 5.1–9.5 vs. 8.5, 6.2–11.3 h, respectively; p = 0.015). Median [IQR] ED length of stay was similar in study patients and controls (9.6, 95% CI 7.9–14.5 vs. 12.5, 8.2–21.2 h, respectively; p = 0.15). Conclusions: Among stable adult patients presenting to the ED with one of the prespecified conditions, early POCT at triage, compared with traditional core laboratory testing after evaluation by an ED provider, reduced ED care time by approximately 1 h.