On-the-spot diagnosis may revolutionize healthcare industry
Technology improvements in healthcare are often centered on devices and applications that can increase the speed and accuracy of patient diagnosis, treatment decisions and monitoring of treatment response.
All three areas can be improved with new developments in point-of-care (POC) testing, which brings the laboratory to the patient to enable healthcare providers to deliver near-instant diagnosis.
According to the CDC, up to 70% of medical decisions are based on laboratory tests. In the traditional healthcare model, a patient has to come to a hospital or medical clinic for health screenings and diagnosis that in many cases require medical staff to draw blood and collect samples for laboratory testing.
The medical supply chain between clinics and laboratories results in delays of several hours or even days for diagnosis and treatment decisions. Once treatments are given, the monitoring of patient responses to medications often requires more follow-up visits and additional lab tests.
Physicians and medical staff that use POC testing machines can deliver accurate, lab-quality diagnostic results to patients within minutes rather than days. Breakthroughs in this area have enormous potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry and save lives.
Adapting to change
POC testing could take a sizeable chunk of the clinical laboratory services market, which is expected to reach $218 billion by 2027, according to Data Bridge Market Research. Portable devices will not replace laboratory services, however, since certain tests will continue to require specialized equipment and techniques to detect medical conditions.
Logistically speaking, the same technology that is being used by medical clinics, laboratories and couriers to have real-time access control and visibility of medical specimen collections and transfers could be adapted to meet the needs of healthcare providers that use POC testing devices.
Medical clinics will need to track inventory and control access to POC testing devices in their facilities and vehicles along with other medical devices, tools and supplies.
BockLock’s smart padlocks are industrial IoT devices with integrated barcode scanners, GPS tracking and cellular connectivity to a cloud-based platform with a suite of access controls, real-time visibility and inventory tracking tools.
To open a smart padlock, a permissioned medical worker scans a unique ID in the form of a barcode or QR code, and then scans the barcodes for the SKUs removed from inventory. The process is repeated when items are returned to a storage locker or other location.
For more information on how BoxLock technology is being used by companies in the healthcare industry to meet their ever-changing supply chain needs, visit https://www.getboxlock.com/lab-logistics