Available for sale: January 1, 2012
Sold Until: December 31, 2012
Program Access Available: January 1, 2012-July 15, 2013

The program is composed of eight courses, which can be completed online in 1 to 2 hours each. Each course contains a lecture, required reading, and a quiz, and may include resource materials. You can earn 12 continuing education units for completing the entire program. The eight courses that make up this certificate program are:

• Introduction
• Point of care testing for creatinine
• Point of care testing for cardiac markers
• Implementation and outcomes of Point of care testing in the emergency department
• Point of care diagnosis of infections
• Point of care diabetes management and glycemic control in outpatient and ICU settings
• Point of care testing for infectious diseases
• Improving the standard of care for disaster medicine
  

Point of care testing is prevalent throughout many institutions and under a variety of circumstances and conditions. Do you know the benefits and challenges associated with POCT? The courses in this certificate program introduce some of the areas where POCT is making an impact and improving patient, safety, health, financial, and process outcomes.

Participants who complete this certificate program will be able to:

• Discuss the need and benefits of POC in different settings
• Describe different types of outcomes and the areas in which POC is making an impact
• Discuss data or cite research from recent studies about how POCT is improving outcomes
• List limitations for creatinine and other POCT methods
• Describe unique quality issues in molecular diagnostics, which will impact their use at POC, such as contamination, inhibition, sampling
• List and discuss the challenges and innovations in POCT during and after natural disaster with examples from the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, the earthquake in Haiti, and Hurricane Katrina in the United States

The use of point of care testing is rapidly expanding. With this new growth comes new challenges and new opportunities for advancement. This program provides participants with a chance to learn about the many circumstances under which point of care is being done and the cutting edge technology that is shaping where point of care technology may go next.

The CPOCT Division developed this eight-course certificate program as a resource for laboratory professionals with an interest in learning more the ways that point of care is making an impact. The program concentrates on the use of point of care to improve outcomes for specific conditions and diseases, with specific tests, in particular contexts such as natural disasters and the emergency room, as well as for diagnosis, management, and implementation of best practices. The expert faculty are experienced educators who have extensive knowledge of point of care and the associated issues.