A fresh forum for point-of-care news and debate

Overview

The Critical Care Information Center is a subsection of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) website, and aims to provide a forum for news and debate relating to point-of-care (POC) testing. Although the Center is funded in part by an educational grant from AVL-Roche Diagnostics, the CAP is solely responsible for providing all content and links. The Center is supported by an advisory group of six senior US pathologists.

Overview

This site is a comprehensive critical care resource, comprising news, articles, surveys, literature reviews and useful links relating to POC testing. The clear purpose of the site is to encourage awareness and debate about POC (near-patient/bedside) testing. Since its launch in July 1999 the site has posted a variety of informative and topical articles addressing issues such as quality control, quality assurance, training for medical staff, data management and cost-effectiveness. Although some of the articles are archived from the CAP's official journal aCAP Today, many are original, commissioned pieces by experts in the field. Some of the articles are in PDF format. The 'news' section contains a further selection of articles on topical issues such as POC testing in intensive care and formation of hospital POC testing committees. The articles are generally well-written and provide an excellent overview of the major issues surrounding this relatively new branch of clinical pathology. Each month around four research papers are selected for inclusion in the 'abstracts of interest' section. The key findings are summarised and highlight implications for clinicians involved in POC testing. The reviews are fully referenced but would benefit from links to the full text on the relevant journal's website. The final section contains 'hotlinks' to various pathology/laboratory/quality control associations and related professional resources and networks.

Timeliness

The site is regularly updated, with new articles posted every month, and old articles archived. The site is only 6 months old and some promised features, such as a 'question and answer' section, are yet to be added.

Evaluation

Adobe Acrobat Reader required for some articles.