Using fast diagnostics to improve healthcare

• Fast diagnostics encompass a spectrum of rapid tests — from point-of-care devices to at-home kits — that deliver results within minutes or hours, enabling immediate clinical action
• Integrating rapid diagnostics into practice improves patient care by allowing earlier treatment, reducing hospital stays, and curbing the spread of infectious diseases through timely intervention
• Emerging technologies such as CRISPR-based assays and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rapid diagnostic tools promise an even faster, more accessible future for medical testing, bringing the lab closer to the patient

Fast diagnostics reduce the time from suspicion to decision, delivering results in minutes or hours rather than days.¹

By bringing testing closer to patients, whether in clinics, pharmacies, or even home, clinicians can confirm or rule out conditions during the same visit, start treatment immediately, and avoid unnecessary follow-up appointments.¹ The result is faster care, less patient anxiety, and smoother clinical workflows.

Fast diagnostics (or rapid diagnostics) are tests designed to deliver clinically actionable results within the same encounter, typically within minutes to one hour at the point of care, or within a few hours through expedited core-lab workflows. They often use simplified, cartridge-based methods, such as lateral-flow assays, rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and microfluidics combined with isothermal amplification, allowing clinicians to confirm or rule out conditions and act immediately.^1,2

Key rapid diagnostic testing concepts to consider:

• Lab turnaround time (TAT): Fast diagnostics target very short lab turnaround time from specimen collection to result, enabling same-visit treatment or next-step triage³
• Point of care testing (POCT): Many rapid diagnostics are performed near the patient, in emergency departments (EDs), clinics, pharmacies, or at home, often as point of care tests. Not all POCT is fast, but the overlap is high because co-location eliminates transport and batching delays⁴
• Rapid testing: A broad label for any accelerated assay. Fast diagnostics are the clinical, decision-oriented subset of rapid testing, emphasizing speed and reliability sufficient to make an immediate clinical decision

Advances in fast diagnostics have shifted testing toward patient-centred models, where proximity and speed enhance both efficiency and outcomes.

POCT is performed at or near the patient (ED, clinic, ambulance, or bedside), with results available in minutes, enabling same-visit clinical decisions. Typical examples include glucose meters, rapid cardiac troponin tests, and arterial blood gases.⁵

POCT improves flow, shortens ED stays, and extends access in resource-limited settings. Maintaining accuracy requires operator training, quality control, and electronic health record (EHR) connectivity. With robust quality controls, POCT turns a single encounter into a test-and-treat opportunity, reducing delays and enhancing the patient experience.^4,5

These miniaturized platforms detect DNA or RNA using rapid PCR, isothermal amplification (e.g., loop-mediated isothermal amplification), or CRISPR-based methods, delivering results within 30 minutes in clinics or pharmacies.⁶

The importance of turnaround time cannot be overstated; this high sensitivity is valuable for time-critical infections such as meningitis or sepsis, and such tools are increasingly applied in oncology and pharmacogenetics. Key considerations include cost, throughput, and occasional confirmatory testing when disease prevalence is low. Rapid molecular diagnostics provide lab-grade sensitivity with near-immediate TAT, enabling targeted therapy when minutes matter.^6–8

Consumer and provider-supervised kits extend fast medical testing to homes, pharmacies, and primary care. Familiar examples include pregnancy tests, COVID-19/flu antigen kits (often combined), strep swabs, and finger-prick assays for cholesterol or other analytes. 

These rapid diagnostic tools enable early detection, rapid isolation or treatment, and greater convenience. Proper sample collection, interpretation, and follow-up are essential to maximise accuracy and safety. When used correctly, these tests deliver simple diagnostics directly where people are, accelerating care while maintaining the laboratory as the quality and safety backbone.⁹

Fast diagnostics compress time-to-result from days to minutes, allowing clinical decisions to occur within the same encounter. By delivering results at the moment of care, they enable earlier and more targeted interventions across care settings:^1,3,6,10

• Earlier treatment, better outcomes: Rapid identification, especially in acute infections, supports same-visit therapy. Faster answers reduce empirical “best-guess” prescribing and allow clinicians to match therapy to the most likely cause sooner
• Reduced transmission: Near-patient testing for flu or COVID-19 enables immediate isolation and timely antiviral treatment, limiting spread in clinics and communities. Speed also helps implement contact precautions and patient cohorting policies, reducing secondary exposures
• Improved patient experience and empowerment: Same-day answers reduce anxiety and build trust. Widely available home tests, such as glucose monitoring or fecal immunochemical tests (FIT), support proactive self-monitoring and more informed clinical visits. When patients see a clear link between testing and action, adherence to treatment plans improves
• Smoother clinical workflow: Short TATs accelerate triage and patient disposition (e.g., rapid cardiac markers to rule out a heart attack), shortening ED stays and increasing capacity. Fewer return appointments and less “phone tag” for results streamline staff workload and reduce bottlenecks
• System-level cost savings: While individual tests may cost more, rapid tests help avoid unnecessary admissions, repeat visits, and complications, lowering total spend. Early rule-out or rule-in decisions reduce downstream imaging, lengthy observation, and broad-spectrum drug use

In summary, rapid diagnostics deliver actionable results at the point of decision, supporting timely treatment, patient-centred care, operational efficiency, and better value for health systems.

Rapid diagnostics don’t just speed up single encounters — they help the whole system run smarter. By decentralizing selected tests to clinics, hospital wards, pharmacies, and homes, central labs can focus on complex assays and urgent priorities. For example, during busy shifts, troponin or glucose tests can be run at the point of care to relieve core-lab bottlenecks while maintaining rapid decision support.⁵

To work at scale, connectivity is non-negotiable. Point-of-care instruments should feed results directly into the laboratory information system (LIS) or EHR, triggering clinician alerts just as central-lab outputs do and eliminating error-prone manual entry. Laboratory teams typically oversee POCT quality, including defining quality control procedures, training, and competency assessment, ensuring speed never compromises accuracy or compliance.^5,11

Fast medical testing also drives laboratory modernization. Automation, lean workflows, autoverification, and AI-based flagging of critical values all shrink lab turnaround time for routine work. The optimal model is hybrid: POCT handles immediate rule-in/rule-out decisions, while the core laboratory provides confirmation, comprehensive panels, and specialist interpretation — delivering timely results without sacrificing rigor.⁵

Fast diagnostics work best when speed is paired with scientific rigor. Key considerations and how to handle them:^1,3,6,10,12

• Accuracy and quality control: A rapid result only helps if it’s reliable. Some early or specific antigen formats may trail lab PCR for sensitivity. Mitigate with robust quality control, device validation, use of control materials, and participation in proficiency testing. Use confirmatory testing where indicated
• Training and human factors: POCT and home tests are often run by non-lab staff or patients. Technique matters (for example, nasal swab depth can drive false negatives). Keep workflows safe with clear instructions for use, competency checks, brief refresher training, and human-centered device design, including guided prompts, lockouts, and internal controls
• Data integration and workflow: Results must land in the EHR or LIS, not on scraps of paper. Use connectivity and auto-resulting to prevent duplication and missed information. Define protocols for confirming positives or negatives to avoid unnecessary repeat testing while preserving quality
• Cost and resource allocation: Cartridges and analyzers can be pricier per test, and reimbursement varies. Balance through use-case targeting (urgent triage, rule-in/rule-out), utilization review, and tracking downstream savings (shorter ED stays, fewer complications)
• Regulatory and operational readiness: Distributed testing expands oversight requirements, including compliance with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) or local equivalents, documentation, and supply-chain planning. Partner with the core lab to standardize quality control policies, maintain operator lists, and manage contingency stocks. Remember that some conditions still need comprehensive lab workups

Bottom line: With connectivity, robust quality control, training, and clear follow-up rules, fast diagnostics deliver speed and scientific rigor, turning rapid answers into reliably better patient care.

Fast diagnostics are evolving from “quick tests” into smart, connected decision-support tools. CRISPR-based assays are a leading edge: by coupling guide RNAs with signal-amplifying chemistries, these tests can detect viral, bacterial, or oncogenic sequences in minutes, often providing a simple visual readout without bulky instrumentation. As these formats mature, CRISPR kits for clinic and home use — targeting flu, dengue, or actionable cancer mutations — could deliver molecular answers at the point of need, improving outbreak control and enabling tailored therapies.¹³

Artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating the pipeline from data to decision. AI models already flag sepsis risk from immune biomarkers within minutes. In radiology and pathology, AI may serve as a first reader for screening images requiring immediate follow-up, while clinicians focus on potential false negatives and complex cases. The same approach could extend to other time-sensitive domains, such as sepsis detection or telehealth triage, where real-time data inputs trigger rapid testing recommendations and guide treatment pathways.¹⁴

Miniaturization and connectivity will do the rest. Lab-on-a-chip platforms are compressing sample prep, amplification, and detection onto disposable cartridges, enabling multi-analyte testing from a finger-prick at the bedside. Wearables blur monitoring and diagnostics by streaming continuous physiological signals, such as heart rhythm, glucose, and oxygenation, that AI can translate into early warnings. These innovations are most effective when results flow straight into the EHR, closing feedback loops for clinicians and patients. The innovation challenge now is to pair this speed with usability and affordability, ensuring global scalability. Achieving this would make diagnostics not only faster but also smarter, more equitable, and increasingly preventive.^11,15,16

Rapid diagnostic testing is reshaping care by delivering actionable results within the same clinical encounter. Point-of-care assays, rapid molecular tests, and home kits shorten time to treatment, improve care, streamline workflows, and lower downstream costs. Successful implementation requires discipline: robust quality controls, operator training, device connectivity, and clear rules for confirmatory testing ensure that speed never compromises rigor.

Looking ahead, innovations such as CRISPR, AI, lab-on-a-chip systems, and wearables, will amplify the capabilities of fast diagnostics, bringing timely, personalized insights to more settings and more patients. Healthcare leaders and laboratory professionals should steer this transition, integrating fast diagnostics where they add the most value, measuring impact, and scaling what works. Done well, the result is care that is more proactive, precise, and patient-centered.