What should labs and point-of-care coordinators have in their arsenals to keep their point-of-care testing (POCT) programs running smoothly? Register for AACC’s newest POCT boot camp this November in Portland, Oregon, to find out.

“Our bootcamp delivers basic information using an interactive approach, which allows participants to easily apply the content to their workplace. I don’t think there is another all-day conference that matches the POC boot camp for concentration of educational material targeted to POC professionals,” said speaker and co-organizer Peggy Mann, MS, MT (ASCP), ambulatory POCC/program manager at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas.

Mann co-organized and will be joining several other seasoned POCT experts for this conference:

  • Kerstin Halverson, MS, clinical applications manager, acute care diagnostics at Instrumentation Laboratory, Bedford, Massachusetts;
  • Lou Ann Wyer, MT (ASCP), CQA(ASQ), director of laboratory services at Sentara Healthcare, Norfolk, Virginia;
  • Kim Skala, MT (ASCP), clinical applications manager, acute care diagnostics with Instrumentation Laboratory, Bedford, Massachusetts; and
  • Jeanne Mumford, MT (ASCP), pathology manager, POCT at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore.

The event continues a new tradition of POC training at AACC. In December 2017, the organization held its first regional boot camp in Baltimore, bringing together stakeholders from a wide range of hospital and outpatient settings to foster support within the POCT community. This latest meeting, Point-of-Care Testing Boot Camp and Beyond: Communicating, Connecting and Collaborating 2018, represents AACC’s second regional boot camp.

“Each boot camp evolves differently due to the interactive nature of our delivery, and we go with the flow as it develops,” Mann said. Organizers add new material to keep it relevant and current. “We want interaction amongst the participants because in POCT the networking is so very valuable!” Halverson told CLN Stat.

Halverson is looking forward particularly to November’s meeting. “I’m excited to hear everyone’s presentations because there will be new things to take away from each one,” she said.

Three sessions will cover the following POCT boot camp topics:

  • Ten Hut! People, Presentations, and Messages: Bringing Them All Together
  • Sound Off! Establishing a Cadence with Non-laboratorians Through Competency, Policies and Procedures
  • Infantry Ready! Utilizing Connectivity and Quality to Keep your POC Program a Well-oiled Machine

The organizers chose topics based on a survey of POCCs that revealed their top areas of concern. Due to feedback from Portland POCCs, for example, a training and competency session will focus more on competency assessment and less on training strategies, Mann said.

Speakers from each breakout session will use audience feedback and questions to enhance the presentation materials, Wyer told CLN Stat. “Additionally, the breakout sessions will enable each attendee to apply the tips and tools learned from each speaker’s topic,” she explained. Each presentation gets tweaks based on attendee feedback and by current events in POCT. For this reason, “I find a nugget from each speaker each time I hear them,” Skala said.

Anyone involved in POCT oversight—nurses, respiratory therapists, managers, lab directors—all have something to learn from this event, Wyer said. “POCCs, new and experienced, can take away ideas to use in their POCT programs back home.  We see both camps attending and this actually provides for a great networking experience for all attendees,” she elaborated. “Vendors also like to attend to learn more about POCT programs and the expectations for their customers.”

The boot camps continue to attract professionals new to POC as well as veterans, Skala observed. In polling attendees at prior events, “the feedback has been that everyone finds some new takeaways or a new perspective on a topic covered,” she told CLN Stat.

Register now for Point-of-Care Testing Boot Camp and Beyond: Communicating, Connecting and Collaborating 2018 and earn 6 ACCENT credits. The event takes place November 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Portland, Oregon.