Limitations of point-of-care testing in the ED or ICU: a role for regional centralized toxicology laboratories.

Although speed in reporting results of clinical laboratory testing for emergency department and intensive care unit patients is always desirable, for clinical toxicology purposes, tests using immunoassays from the central laboratory or point-of-care devices do not have adequate performance or cover the menu of drugs needed to meet clinical standards. Therefore, a regional toxicology laboratory using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry is desirable for accurate and comprehensive coverage of drug testing.