Elizabeth Lee-Lewandrowski, PhD, MPH
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

John Nichols
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Elizabeth Van Cott, MD
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Ricky Grisson, MD
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Abner Louissaint, MD, PhD
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Theodore Benzer, MD, PhD
Department of Emergency Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Kent Lewandrowski, MD
Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston

Keywords: Rapid whole blood D-dimer test; Emergency department; Urban academic medical center; Length of stay; Ancillary test utilization; Turnaround time; Point-of-care testing; Venous thromboembolism

Upon completion of this activity, you will be able to:

• describe how D-dimer testing should be used in the evaluation of venous thromboembolic disease.
• discuss how point-of care testing (POCT) can be used to improve the efficiency of emergency department (ED) operations.
• list POCT assays that have been documented to reduce ED length of stay.