The adoption of point of care testing technologies for respiratory tract infections in primary care in Australia: Challenges and facilitators

Abstract

Despite technological advances and readily available point of care test (POCT) devices with rapid turn-around results for respiratory tract infection (RTI) management, their adoption in primary care remains low. This paper summarises the challenges and facilitators of POCT implementation for RTIs in primary care settings in high-income countries. The review of 28 studies identified by systematic searches of electronic databases improves our understanding of the current state and will help guide the design and implementation of strategies to improve widespread POCT adoption. To effectively implement respiratory POCT in primary care, it is crucial to address several key challenges. These include ensuring the availability of resources to alleviate time pressures and costs, enhancing training, increasing quality control, improving device feasibility, and managing patient expectations. In doing so, diagnostic POCTs can contribute to an accurate, rapid, and evidence-based diagnosis of RTIs to reduce antimicrobial use and improve antimicrobial stewardship and patient outcomes.