Installation of Data Management System for Point-of-care Blood Gas Analyzers using Local Area Network

Background : Point-of-care (POC) testing is expanding because of the many advantages, such as faster turnaround time, immediate decision making and patient management. However, POC testing has problems; poor maintenance and quality control of devices and management of test results. We installed data management system (DMS) for POC blood gas analyzers using local area network for the resolution of those problems. Methods : We connected nine POC blood gas analyzers Rapidpoint 400 (Bayer Diagnostics Ltd., Newbury, UK) to POC data manager Rapidlink (Bayer Diagnostics Ltd.) by device interface using local area network and developed in-house program for connecting POC data manager to laboratory information system (LIS)/hospital information system (HIS). We surveyed user acceptability and reliability of test results. We examined patterns of problems detected and solved in operating DMS based on quality records. We calculated the change of the yearly test numbers of arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA) after installation of DMS. Results : Test results of POC blood gas analyzers were transferred to LIS and could be checked in HIS. By means of user survey, we judged that the users of POC blood gas analyzers operated the devices with ease and thought test results reliable. POC data manager server implemented in central laboratory enabled remote maintenance and quality control of devices with little workload. POC ABGA test number increased by 3.7 fold during the two years. Conclusions : We developed DMS for POC blood gas analyzers, enabling test result retrieval and remote maintenance and quality control of devices. This is very informative study for other hospitals installing DMS for POC testing in Korea.