Protecting healthcare professionals
In this pressurised environment, it is crucial that diagnostics staff are provided with appropriate equipment that is easy to use and minimises the risk of injury. For instance, phlebotomists experience on average one accidental percutaneous blood exposure every year. Devices for blood collection should be designed to be as easy to use as possible, especially as some phlebotomists may come to the profession after short, intensive training programmes. However, even as manufacturers look to develop more intuitive products, additional training and support may be required to ensure correct use of blood collection products and other diagnostic devices.

Coping with demand

Diagnostic services are adapting to address some of the issues outlined above. Many healthcare providers in the US, Canada and other countries across the world have signed up to the Choosing Wisely campaign, an initiative seeking to advance national dialogue on avoiding unnecessary medical tests, treatments, and procedures. The goal is to reduce avoidable use of healthcare services and ensure diagnostic products are reserved for those most in need.

One study assessed the impact of issuing an alert to doctors as they are about to place an order for medical tests and found that it led to a 29% reduction in orders for one common test. The ‘best practices alert’ encouraged doctors to reconsider tests which may be ordered after a patient has already been admitted and therefore would not impact care, or repeated testing where one test may be sufficient.

The way that services are delivered is also evolving. One solution gaining traction is the consolidation of imaging and laboratory services into one stop shops. This would allow companies to offer cardiac, endoscopy and screening services all in one place. Another emerging concept is the ‘medical village’ or ‘polyclinic’ where a range of specialists, nurses, diagnosticians and even dentists are all based in one convenient location, sometimes even based in shopping malls or community centres. With all these specialists available, wait times can be dramatically decreased with patients sometimes referred to relevant practitioners on the same day.

In future, we are also likely to see more innovation in Point of Care (POC) diagnostics. The volume of POC testing rose dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the urgent need for faster on-site screening. The ability to obtain diagnostic results close to the patient ensures faster results and implementation of therapy. Wider implementation of POC solutions could be game-changing in multiple disease areas.

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