Efficient Testing Procedures Will Allow Advanced Technologies at Lower Cost

Frost & Sullivan: Healthcare now geared toward tracking, predicting, intervening and managing disease conditions in a cost-effective manner

The in vitro diagnostics (IVD) industry and healthcare provider organizations are trying to function collaboratively to manifest a paradigm shift from routine disease management to prevention and wellness. Expectedly, enabling easy access to healthcare by offering advanced technologies at a lower cost is high on industry participants’ agenda.

With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) bringing in a large number of new patients to the healthcare continuum, industry participants have to reevaluate their current business strategies. Clinical laboratories need to find alternative strategies to reduce the number of tests per patient as to avoid redundancy and save costs. In response, diagnostic laboratories will have to decrease costs and boost productivity to meet the expectation of lower reimbursement rates with increased testing volumes. Manufacturers too will have to support the labs with sophisticated technologies.

View the impacts of U.S. healthcare reform on the in vitro diagnostics market via Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis: http://bit.ly/1JPevh9

“Healthcare reform is bringing in new delivery models such as accountable care organizations (ACOs); clinical laboratories will eventually blend in with ACOs to offer value-based healthcare,” said Frost & Sullivan Life Sciences Senior Industry Analyst Divyaa Ravishankar. “In fact, new schemes on outcome-based reimbursement have already triggered interest in a move away from the traditional fee-for-service models. While laboratories might lose money as an entity by adopting the value-based healthcare system, overall welfare will increase, with better treatments for patients, and higher patient and physician satisfaction.”

Electronic connectivity solutions will be the main tool to help eliminate unnecessary testing, provide seamless access to laboratory results throughout the continuum of care, improve the quality of testing, and reduce errors. Laboratories will opt for lean six sigma principles and connectivity solutions such as electronic medical records to access and upload test results from anywhere using the cloud and other applications. Clinical analytics will also become vital to bridge the existing gap between traditional laboratory testing and laboratory management (test utilization).

As such, the industry will see a rise in innovative partnership models among IVD manufacturers, diagnostic laboratories, software vendors and smartphone giants. Companies like Apple and Google are especially keen on rolling out disruptive technologies and supplemental modules for e-health.

“The market is ripe for IVD manufacturers that can invest to develop solutions that significantly lower turnaround times,” noted Ravishankar. “Thus, integrating lab-on-a-chip with smartphones, revolutionizing point-of-care testing and decentralized testing, and introducing more patient self-testing products and devices are important for diagnostic test developers to taste success.”

As patient self-testing and direct-to-consumer testing gains momentum, retail healthcare too will become a big business. Kroger has already taken a giant leap by installing pilot phase kiosks in its pharmacies and retail stores. Target has also been eyeing this market from the start of this year.

Frost & Sullivan has developed a highly successful IVD Market Intelligence Program to provide a comprehensive overview on the latest IVD market trends in global and emerging markets. IVD companies can leverage accurate and reliable market intelligence to develop goals and strategize. The studies offered include:

• Analysis of the Global In Vitro Diagnostics Market
• Impact of US Healthcare Reform on the In Vitro Diagnostics Market
• US Hematology Diagnostics Market
• Western European Companion Diagnostics Market
• Analysis of the Global Tissue Diagnostics Market.

All the research deliverables are available in data packs (Excel format). The data tables will represent total installed base, revenue forecasts for different segments across selected geographies, market shares, and market trends for the forecast period.