Change is occurring rapidly in point-of-care testing. Distributors and manufacturers – not to mention clinicians – are adjusting accordingly. Chief among those changes is physician employment by hospital systems.
It is estimated that nearly 70 percent of physicians are employed by or affiliated with an IDN, says Steven Sepulveda, head of sales and corporate alliances, The Americas, Sekisui Diagnostics LLC. In many cases, the IDN supply chain executive is striving to standardize products and equipment – including point-of-care testing – across their acute-care and non-acute-care locations. Standardization brings advantages from a clinical perspective, and it also leads to higher volume, which the IDN can leverage for better pricing and terms from suppliers. Meanwhile, IDNs may choose to move some testing from the physician office to the inpatient hospital, where reimbursement may be higher.
The Affordable Care Act is having its own impact on the lab/diagnostics market, says Sepulveda. For example, the Obama Administration offers plenty of support to the nation’s roughly 9,000 community health centers. Many of these centers, which serve all patients, regardless of income, have upgraded their facilities, and are performing more tests than ever for such conditions as trichomoniasis and vaginosis