Faster lab tests now available at the Philippine Heart Center

MANILA, Philippines - In every hospital, various laboratory tests are performed on patients before doctors decide whether to admit them or send them home. These tests, although accurate, take a long time to process that patient queues in emergency rooms are not uncommon.

This waiting period is bearable for some patients, but for those who are experiencing great pain, an hour’s worth of waiting can be excruciating. This problem became the catalyst for the development of point-of-care testing (POCT), which paved way for faster services in hospitals such as the Philippine Heart Center (PHC).

POCTs are diagnostic tests that can be performed outside the laboratory, often just beside the patient’s bed. POCT devices are small, light, portable, and versatile enough to provide timely, reliable, and accurate results for faster therapeutic interventions. 

“Aside from the fast turnaround time, the decision-making time of doctors is shortened, allowing them to decide quickly whether the patient needs admission or not,” said PHC laboratory officer-in-charge Dr. Arlene de Luna. “If we don’t have POCTs, our emergency rooms will fill up.” 

POCTs used in PHC are housed in satellite laboratories where biochemical samples are taken. Both critical tests such sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium and non-critical tests such as coagulation are part of PHC’s POCT.

“When we started the satellite lab, there was an automatic change in services that the doctors noticed,” De Luna said. “Tests no longer took two hours just like those done in the usual laboratory.”

PHC’s POCT devices are provided in part by HealthSolutions Enterprises Inc., a leading medical solutions provider in the Philippines that carries exclusive products like Spotchem EZ, Spotchem EL, and Aution Eleven POCT devices from the world-renowned Arkray brand of Japan.

Spotchem EZ can measure nine parameters like the amount of albumin, calcium, and magnesium in the blood with just one sample strip. The machine’s automatic calibration feature ensures accuracy of each test.

Spotchem EL, however, can measure electrolyte content (sodium, potassium, and chlorine) in the blood or urine as fast as 60 seconds. Automatic calibration enables accurate measurements of each sample.

Aution Eleven can perform up to 514 urinalyses per hour, making it one of the fastest POCTs in the market. It automatically starts when a strip is set on a tray and measures 10 parameters simultaneously.