The role of a point of care coordinator (POCC) is increasingly becoming important to healthcare institutions. From working in multidisciplinary teams to ensuring safety and compliance, they do it all.

Being a POCC comes with responsibilities that vary from institution to institution, with few guidelines and structures that spell out what the role entails. POCCs get most of their training from learning on the job. Where other traditional roles in a hospital can expect to find workshops and tailored programmes run by associations or institutions, POCC-dedicated support systems are far and few between (as we covered previously). But what if there are better ways to support them?

Here are the top 5 things to consider as a POCC.

1. Envisioning the overall patient journey

You as a POCC understand the intrinsic value of a point-of-care testing (POCT) service. The use of POCT has many downstream benefits. Faster test results can reduce unnecessary testing, patient waiting time, number of clinic visits and more.

It is important to consider the big picture when assessing how to implement a new POCT service in your institution. Patient journey mapping is a great way to assess current processes, as well as where they can be designed to improve. Here are some components to consider when mapping this journey, and ask yourself what is the key area within this that needs to be addressed:

• Patient flow
• Clinical pathway
• Information flow
• Patient voice
• Staff voice
• Operational and resource flow

Remember to take a step back and evaluate from a big-picture perspective, as opposed to an individual point of view, to maximise the benefit of a new POCT service.

2. Assembling and leading multidisciplinary teams effectively

Stakeholder management is a key part of your role as a POCC. Not only do you work with medical experts who are users of the devices, but you have to also control, manage and innovate with a diverse group of individuals throughout the whole POCT service you oversee.

When a task calls for a multidisciplinary team (MDT) to be assembled, be sure to consider the talents of the people. A group of diverse individuals can be great for challenging the status quo, and different skill sets can be complementary to each other to solve a common problem. Effective stakeholder management is key to helping you decide how much guidance is needed for each person. One way of doing so is by determining their Power and Interest levels. For example, highly Powered and Interested individuals may want to be fully engaged at a high level, yet it does not mean someone who is low Powered or Interested is disinterested. These individuals may be better suited for observation and speak better with details.

After assembling your MDT, consider the team dynamic. You now have a diverse group of individuals you need to motivate to work effectively towards a common goal. Here are the 4 stages of team formation as advised by psychologist Bruce Tuckman that can help you work towards creating a great team dynamic:

• Forming – You need to create clear roles and responsibilities for everyone to understand where they stand as a team. Teams can stay in this stage for a while as people start to get to know each other.
• Storming – As people work together, they start to test the boundaries with each other. Many teams fail in this stage. To combat this, you need to establish processes and structures within the team and help resolve conflicts swiftly if they occur. It is in this stage where you need to remain positive yet firm.
• Norming  – Your team will start to self-resolve their differences, respect each other and show commitment to the goal. In this stage, you can take a step back to let your team take responsibility for progressing towards the goal.
• Performing – Your team achieves its goal, and as a leader, you can delegate a high portion of the work and have as light a touch as possible. You can also start to think of other goals for the team.

Through effective stakeholder management and the creation of a balanced team dynamic, you are creating a team that can perform.

3. Motivating your multidisciplinary team

Motivation is the next step to ensure your MDT works. There are 3 elements to motivation:

• Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives
• Mastery – the urge to get better at something that matters
• Purpose – the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselves

David Rock’s neuroscience study demonstrates motivation-driving behaviour is based on the principles of minimising threat and maximising reward. You can consider the SCARF model – Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness – these 5 domains that activate the threat or reward parts of people’s brains.

• Status – relative importance to others. E.g. people feel a status increase when attention is paid to their improvement
• Certainty – the ability to predict the future. E.g. provide clarity when you communicate a process or message to the team
• Autonomy – a sense of control over events. E.g. active discussion with POC users allows for a solution to be prepared with their needs in mind
• Relatedness – a sense of safety with others. E.g. encourage social interaction within teams to foster trust and collaboration
• Fairness – a perception of fair exchanges between people. Eg. ensure transparency throughout the entire process

Understanding how individuals in your MDT respond to these elements of motivation is a powerful tool for getting them working as a team towards achieving a common goal.

4. Continuous improvement of users for quality assurance

All staff involved in POCT must be trained and competent in the use of the devices. Only once has this training and competence been established and recorded should they be permitted to perform POCT. Obtaining a rest result is simply the tip of the iceberg when it comes to clinical governance.

Not only is it important to know what should be included in the training, but how the training is delivered is also key to getting your users trained. For example, face-to-face training is preferred when introducing your first-time users to the devices and materials they will be using. For learners who are currently on a refresher course, it could be easier to use some sort of learning management system (LMS)/e-learning that allows them access when they can rather than being pulled away for an in-person session. An LMS also allows for electronic record keeping which can help streamline your administrative tasks and allows you to focus your efforts on delivering great training content where needed.

Though making sure that your users are up to date with their training and competency levels can be a tedious task, these are necessary measures to ensure your institution is achieving the standards required by accreditation bodies and regulators.

Another way to uphold safety standards put in place by accreditation bodies is through the use of standard operating procedures (SOPs). SOPs are not written for the sake of creating rules, but rather to ensure consistency among users, regardless of their experience or backgrounds. There are 3 key points to getting a clear message across – legibility, readability and comprehensibility. Consider these aspects when creating your SOPs for a device or process:

• Use a unique and meaningful title
• Employ an active voice, use “you” within the text
• Write in simple language
• Be precise and use concrete language
• Use bulleted or numbered lists where appropriate
• Give instructions and provide reasonings
• Use drawings and place them next to the corresponding text

You may also want to consider pre-testing some SOPs with those who will use them before setting them in stone.

5. Writing a business case

Congratulations, you have put in all the hard work in the above to assess an issue, identify where POCT can benefit the institution and assemble a team to make this happen! Now, you have to sell it to your institution’s management to make this a reality. These are the 5 things to include to make a great business case.

1. Make your business case relevant to the priorities and concerns of the decision-makers
2. Make a strong case with quality evidence
3. Demonstrate cost-effectiveness and the return on investment
4. Identify the key people you need to consult
5. Evaluate your programme effectively (paying attention to outcomes, KPIs and timelines)

After these 5 steps, consider adding visual or audio aids, present a case study to aid in your storytelling and anticipate the questions that may arise.

To learn more about how a POCT service and a POCC can benefit your institution, please reach out to Patricia Dewi, APAC Product Manager, Near Patient Care, at [email protected].