Patient satisfaction with point-of-care laboratory testing: report of a quality improvement program in an ambulatory practice of an academic medical center.

BACKGROUND: Point-of-care laboratory testing (POCT) offers reduced turnaround time and may facilitate medical decision-making and improve clinical operations. However, there is very little published data concerning the impact of POCT on patient satisfaction.

METHODS: We implemented POCT for hemoglobin A1c, lipid panel and comprehensive metabolic panel in a primary care practice and monitored patient satisfaction with on-site testing using an anonymous survey.

RESULTS: A total of 97 surveys (65% response rate) were reviewed. On a scale of 1 (poor) to 4 (excellent) the mean response to the question "Compared with your past experiences of physician office visits that did not have on-site testing please rank your overall level of satisfaction with today's office visit" was 3.96. In 34 surveys a free text comment was included which was uniformly very positive.

CONCLUSIONS: Our study strongly indicates a high level of patient satisfaction with on-site POCT in a primary care setting.