Healthcare professionals and point-of-care innovation: changing views and emerging trends

Point-of-care technologies (POCTs) have grown increasingly prevalent in clinical and at-home settings, offering various rapid diagnostic capabilities. This study presents findings from a nationwide survey of healthcare providers, including physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals, conducted between November 2023 and January 2024, capturing clinician perceptions of POCTs. This survey builds upon previous surveys from 2019 to 2021, and the data reflects a shift in attitudes toward a more neutral standpoint with fewer perceived benefits and concerns.

A total of 159 responses were analyzed. Core priorities, including accuracy, ease of use, and availability, remain consistently valued over the years. However, several perceived benefits, including continuous patient monitoring, diagnostic certainty, and patient management exhibited significant declines in agreement compared to previous years. This decline may be attributed to the increasing real-world experience with POCTs and the associated concerns surrounding inconsistent or inaccurate patient use, particularly in at-home settings. POCTs are now used for broader applications. Despite this, clinician perceptions of POCTs’ abilities to enhance patient-provider communication remained stable. The results suggest a tempered outlook among providers.

Evolving concerns may reflect heightened expectations and greater scrutiny as these technologies become commonplace. Agreement that POCTs may undermine clinical expertise increases, while concerns related to reimbursement and usability declines. Pilot questions related to artificial intelligence and machine learning were introduced; results indicated moderate openness to adopting AI-enhanced POCTs, particularly with tools offering novel clinical insights.

While the results provide valuable insight into an evolving landscape of clinician perceptions, limitations include a smaller sample size than in prior years and missing demographic data from a subset of participants. Future surveys will further integrate AI/ML-related questions while prioritizing broader demographic and geographic reach.

These trends underscore the importance of aligning the needs and expectations of stakeholders to enhance the clinical value of POCTs and improve patient outcomes.