Objectives To determine whether the practical impact of point-of-care (POC) laboratory testing justifies its use in a remote rural hospital.Methods Test indication, pre-test differential diagnosis and planned patient disposition were recorded over 6 months before and after POC test use in Rawene...

Most secondary care health services in New Zealand, including computed tomography (CT) scanners, are concentrated in urban centres. Little is known about the access rural patients have to these services. The aim of this research was to determine whether there was geographic variation in the...