The 6th German POCT Symposium: Bremen instead of Down Under

(MedLabPortal) The 6th Point-of-Care Testing Symposium (POCT) will take place from Sept. 25-26, 2024 at the Congress Centrum Bremen. So much for the official news. But what is behind it – and why should medical journalists and students in particular attend, in addition to laboratory medicine experts?

The welcome address by the two conference presidents, Prof. Astrid Petersmann and Prof. Peter B. Luppa, outlines the main elements of the symposium.

“In eight sessions and two lunch symposia, important innovations in the highly dynamic field of patient-oriented point-of-care diagnostics will be highlighted and discussed. Numerous clinical issues from emergency and intensive care medicine, the diagnosis of infectious diseases or continuous glucose monitoring will be considered. The POCT Symposium is also dedicated to important cross-sectional technologies, new IT concepts and innovative POCT applications, as well as innovations in quality assurance, preanalytics and, of course, the important aspects of new regulatory requirements”.

According to the two researchers, ‘the different settings in hospitals, outpatient clinics, practices, but also the homecare sector are taken into account’.

What lies behind the terms affects much more than laboratory medicine in real life. POCT is everything that has to do with patient-oriented laboratory diagnostics. In Germany, for example, all citizens were suddenly affected by this during the coronavirus pandemic. The tests commonly referred to as “coronavirus tests” were very often nothing more than POCT in everyday use.

It is not surprising that POCT is hardly noticed in a country whose healthcare system is one of the best in the world. Until now, anyone wanting to understand the significance of POCT would have had to look further afield.

Researchers at Flinders University in Australia tested the quality of point-of-care tests (POCT) for molecular-based detection of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) in over 100 remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia.

“Our study shows that the quality of POCT can be equivalent to that of laboratory tests if point-of-care test models are effectively established and managed. The benefits for patients are overwhelming and obvious,” said Dr. Susan Matthews of the International Centre for Point-of-Care Testing at Flinders University.

“In Australia, POC tests help hard-to-reach patients, including indigenous communities in rural and remote areas. There, long distances, as well as social and cultural factors, can cause people to avoid inpatient testing – which means that infectious diseases often go untreated,” said the physician.

Those who don't have time to find out about the possible uses of POCT in Australia on September 25 and 26 should alternatively visit the symposium in Bremen. The program promises high-level lectures. Above all, medical specialties away from laboratory medicine can find out about the methods available to them today and in the future for securing diagnoses.

The fact that Down Under and Germany are not so far apart in the end is demonstrated by medical care in rural areas. Where hospitals are rare in this country and the nearest medical care center is not just around the corner, a mobile diagnostic system can save lives. Those interested in Bremen will also be able to exchange ideas on this.

What? 6th German Point-of-Care Testing Symposium (POCT)

Motto? Innovative solutions for quality-assured patient-centered laboratory diagnostics

When? Sept. 25-26, 2024, Congress Centrum Bremen, Germany

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