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Explaining POC testing - Adaptable script.docx
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Point of Care (POC) testing removes key barriers to the treatment of gout and uric acid lowering medicines. POC means people can be tested and results used immediately to adjust medicine dosage during the titration phase. POC testing can also be available in community settings and outside of normal laboratory hours to improve access. This avoids time delays and multiple visits to primary care practices.
POC meters for gout and the relevant consumables (test strips, lancet and calibration fluid) are readily available at reasonable cost to primary care.
Blood Glucose / Total Cholesterol / Uric Acid
Always read the label and use only as directed
The BeneCheck multi-monitoring system is an easy to use, handheld device which allows you to check your total cholesterol, as well as blood glucose and uric acid, in the one device.
The BeneCheck system uses the latest amperometric technology in a unique electrochemical process. It automatically collects a tiny amount of blood, by capillary action, to provide accurate and consistent results in 30 seconds. A simple, painless, speedy procedure. It needs less blood than other meters to perform these tests.
<aside> ✅ Benecheck Point of Care meters are reliable when testing uric acid levels when titrating allopurinol and other uric acid lowering medicines (2)
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Link to product (Pharmacy Direct):
(BeneCheck, 2015) BeneCheck is a 3-in-1 meter, for uric acid testing skip to 4:16
(BeneCheck, 2015) BeneCheck is a 3-in-1 meter, for uric acid testing skip to 4:16
Your team may already be using a POC meter to check blood glucose levels in the practice. Testing uric acid levels can be made much more accessible if a non-clinical staff member (health coach, kaiawhina or community support worker is trained to test uric acid levels using the meter. They can then report these results to your team (including any pharmacists you may have delegated authority to) for titrating allopurinol or other uric acid lowering medicines.
Training and equipping non-clinical members of your team to undertake POC testing both in the practice and in the community overcomes any barriers whānau Māori and Pacific peoples with gout may encounter getting to your clinic or to the pharmacist. This way allopurinol and other medicines can be quickly titrated, dispensed and then delivered or collected.
From a marae health centre: At one practice the kaiawhina was trained to use a POC testing device. He was well known in the community and was often at community events or community facilities such as the local swimming pool. Whānau Māori and Pacific peoples with gout knew he could test their uric acid levels in the community which saved them having to go to the clinic. The kaiawhina was also able to pass on results of the uric acid tests to the pharmacist co-located in the clinic so their allopurinol could be titrated.
From the ProCare Gout Collaborative: At one practice all the GPs had POC meters. The patients were quite intrigued by them as they thought the meters were only used to test blood glucose and didn’t realise they could be used for testing uric acid levels as well. Nurses also had access to the POC meters to check uric acid levels and this practice made great strides in improving gout outcomes for their predominantly Māori and Pacific community.
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(2) Paraskos J, Berke Z, Cook J, Miner JN, Braddock M, Platt A, Hughes G. An analytical comparison between point-of-care uric acid testing meters. Expert Rev Mol Diagn. 2016;16(3):373-82. doi: 10.1586/14737159.2016.1134326. Epub 2016 Jan 11. PMID: 26689648