Collaboration for Better POCT: Healthcare Providers and Diagnostic Companies

Collaboration between healthcare professionals and industry: Discuss the importance of collaboration between healthcare providers and diagnostic companies to improve patient care and drive innovation in the field of POCT.

Full Potential of Point-of-Care Testing

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is a rapidly growing area of diagnostics that enables faster, more convenient and cost-effective testing at or near the site of patient care. POCT can improve clinical outcomes, reduce hospital admissions and enhance patient satisfaction. However, to realize the full potential of POCT, there is a need for greater collaboration between healthcare providers and diagnostic companies.

Healthcare providers and diagnostic companies have different perspectives, incentives and challenges when it comes to POCT. Healthcare providers are focused on delivering high-quality care, improving patient safety and reducing costs. Diagnostic companies are driven by innovation, Patient health care management, market share and profitability. These differences can create barriers to fully effective collaboration, such as misalignment of goals, lack of trust, poor communication and regulatory hurdles.

Importance of Collaboration

However, there are also many opportunities for mutual benefit and value creation through collaboration. By working together, healthcare providers and diagnostic companies can:

• Co-develop solutions that address unmet clinical needs and improve patient outcomes

• Share data and insights that enable evidence-based decision making and performance improvement

• Leverage each other’s expertise, resources and networks to accelerate innovation and adoption of POCT

• Create ‘beyond the product’ partnerships that offer value-added services such as training, support, quality assurance and analytics

Some examples of successful collaboration between healthcare providers and diagnostic companies in the field of POCT include:

• The alliance between Kaiser Permanente and Siemens Healthineers to implement a standardized POCT program across 39 hospitals that can improve quality, efficiency and compliance (1)

  1. The collaboration achieved the following goals

     1. Reduced manual data entry errors by 90%

     2. Increased operator compliance by 50%

     3. Saved over $1 million per year in reagent costs

     4. Imporved turnaround time by 30%

     5. Enhanced patient saftey and satisfaction

• The collaboration between Partners HealthCare and Philips Healthcare to create a digital platform for remote monitoring and management of chronic diseases using POCT devices. By doing so, the center for renovation will focus on developing new solutions for chronic diseases, such as, congestive heartfailure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer (2)

• NanoEntek has launched several POCT and in vitro diagnostic systems to provide convenience to patients and healthcare providers by offering fast turnaround times and short test times (less than 3 minutes). As a result, the NanoEntek Adam rWBC series has been selected as the QC standard equipment of the American Red Cross and has been supplied to most regions in the United States.

Takeaway message

These examples show that collaboration between healthcare providers and diagnostic companies can create a win-win situation for both parties, as well as for patients and society. Collaboration can foster innovation, enhance quality, reduce costs and improve access to POCT. Therefore, it is important to overcome the barriers and challenges that hinder collaboration, and to embrace the opportunities and benefits that it offers.

Reference

1. POCcelerator™ Data Management System - Siemens Healthineers (siemens-healthineers.com)

2. Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) Solutions | Philips

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