Abstract
Many in the clinical and manufacturing community have their eyes on the
Physician Office Laboratory (POL) as an outlet both to improve patient
compliance and outcomes and to open new market opportunities. Studies are
emerging on the clinical outcomes and cost-benefit of nearer-the-patient
testing, but little certain is known about POLs as a distribution channel for
diagnostics products.
Kalorama' s Physician Office Laboratory (POL) Testing Markets Worldwide: Status
Quo and Future Trends takes a bold look into the technologies and trends in
physician office laboratories (POLs)-with a special focus on the economics of
test use in on-site patient care-and quantifies the market for this type of
testing worldwide and in specific regions.
This exhaustive report provides:
- Discussions of the Regulatory Environment for POLs in various
countries and regions.
- CMA reimbursement rates and average costs for the top POL tests.
- POL Test Revenues by Type of Test, 2006-2011, for more than 35 test
segments.
- POL Test Revenues by Region, 2006 to 2011.
- Estimates and Overview of the number of POLs in various countries.
- Complete discussions of the POL environments in top geographic
markets.
- Market Analyses for 15 POL Testing Areas.
- Profiles of the POL offerings of over 110 suppliers.
Definitions and Methodology
The term physician office lab (POL) is as wide and diverse as one can imagine.
It encompasses physician practices as small as 2 to 5 doctors that perform a
few rapid tests to large practices of some 200 physicians that operate labs
similar to small hospital laboratories. The definition used here is therefore
broad and refers to the market for tests which are:
- Performed in a physician office setting
- At the time of a consultation between a physician or other healthcare
- professional (nurse practitioner, pharmacist)
- Provides a result to be used during the medical visit and
- Is used for screening, diagnosis or monitoring purposes.
This broad definition is used because near patient testing is shaped by the
nature of the healthcare system in place and the culture of a specific region
or country. A precise estimation of the IVD company revenues assigned to the
POL market is a somewhat precarious exercise. Most POL rapid tests are carried
by catalogue vendors such as VWR and Thermo-Fisher and by distributors
specializing POL sales. In the case of large POLs, the sale of small
chemistry, hematology and immunoassay analyzers is often handled by an IVD
company representative; otherwise distributors serve most other POLs.
The estimates provided in this report refer to factory sales to the end user
or distributor and not retail pricing or reimbursement payments. The estimate
was established using U.S. CMS physician service data (2005), company reports,
industry publications, various other government and private market research
resources, and as part of Kalorama' s trusted information-gathering process,
extensive contact with professional including industry professionals and
conference attendees to verify information and forecasts.
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