POCT — საწოლთან ტესტირება [L-17]

POCT — საწოლთან ტესტირება [L-17]

Point-of-care testing (POCT) has fundamentally altered the diagnostic landscape, enabling clinicians to obtain actionable results within minutes at or near the patient’s location — a capacity that directly influences triage decisions, medication management, and time-sensitive interventions across emergency, primary care, and critical care settings. Despite its clinical utility, POCT carries inherent risks when performed outside rigorously controlled laboratory conditions: proficiency gaps, inadequate quality control, and non-standardized documentation contribute to diagnostic error rates that are disproportionately higher than those observed in accredited central laboratories. For Georgia and the broader South Caucasus region, where healthcare systems are actively pursuing Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation and aligning laboratory services with ISO 15189:2022 standards, closing these competency gaps is both operationally urgent and institutionally consequential. This course provides the structured, evidence-informed foundation that healthcare professionals need to implement and sustain POCT programs that meet certified quality benchmarks.

The curriculum is grounded in internationally recognized frameworks, including ISO 22870:2016 (Point-of-care testing — Requirements for quality and competence), WHO guidelines on laboratory quality management, and the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) POCT series. Instructional design integrates case-based scenarios drawn from real clinical environments — including emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and rural health posts — with structured knowledge checks that reinforce regulatory and procedural reasoning rather than rote memorization. Each learning unit maps directly to competency domains assessed during external accreditation reviews, ensuring that course outcomes translate into verifiable institutional performance.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Distinguish between waived, moderate-complexity, and high-complexity POCT classifications and apply the corresponding regulatory requirements to their specific clinical setting.
• Implement a quality management system for POCT that satisfies the requirements of ISO 22870:2016 and aligns with JCI Laboratory and Point-of-Care Testing standards.
• Apply correct pre-analytical, analytical, and post-analytical procedures for the most commonly used POCT modalities, including glucose monitoring, coagulation testing, troponin assays, and rapid infectious disease diagnostics.
• Interpret internal and external quality control data to identify trends, systematic errors, and corrective action triggers in a POCT program.
• Design operator training and competency assessment protocols that satisfy accreditation body requirements for non-laboratory healthcare personnel performing POCT.
• Evaluate institutional POCT connectivity solutions and data management workflows to ensure accurate result documentation, audit-trail integrity, and integration with electronic health record systems.

Who Should Attend

This course is designed for clinical nurses, emergency physicians, hospitalists, and general practitioners who perform or supervise point-of-care testing as part of their daily practice, as well as laboratory managers and quality officers responsible for POCT governance within hospital or outpatient facilities. It is equally relevant to healthcare administrators and accreditation coordinators at Georgian medical institutions preparing for JCI, Accreditation Canada International, or national accreditation review. Mid-career professionals seeking to formalize existing POCT experience within a certified quality framework will derive particular benefit.

Course Structure

The course is delivered fully online through GMJ Academy’s asynchronous learning environment, with an estimated study commitment of six to eight hours, and concludes with a structured knowledge assessment requiring a minimum passing score of 80% for certificate issuance. Successful completion qualifies participants for Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits in accordance with the standards of the Georgian National Medical CME Council.