From Lab to Bedside Testing: Uncovering Gateways and Roadblocks to Syndromic Multiplex Point-of-Care Testing for Infectious Diseases in Canadian Hospitals

Health leaders must consider various solutions to alleviate the healthcare management burden within Canadian hospitals. Increased access and rapidity of Infectious Diseases (IDs) testing via multiplex Point-of-Care Tests (POCTs) is an example. Twenty-four interviews assessed the facilitators and barriers to implementing such tests in the inpatient hospital setting in Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. The perspective of health leaders, including provincial laboratory officials, medical and laboratory directors, POCT managers, physicians, and nurses, revealed the following major themes as being relevant to the sustainable adoption and implementation of a multiplex POCT for IDs: (1) current diagnostic methods and experience with POCTs; (2) disease burden and level of health system integration affecting a hospital; (3) the management capacity of hospitals; and (4) the anticipated impact on healthcare management efficiency. The study provides structure for health leaders to evaluate and plan for necessary organizational transformation for adopting multiplex POCTs.