The Point of Care Diagnostics market rose by 7% in 2010, which was driven by demand for cardiovascular testing products. Espicoms new report examines role of POC testing and 5-year outlook for various medical applications.

Global Information Inc. would like to present a new market research report, « Point of Care Diagnostics: Players, products & future market prospects » by Espicom Business Intelligence.

The term point-of-care (POC) diagnostics is generally defined as a diagnostic test that is undertaken in the same place as the patient and produces a result while the patient remains at the test site. Point-of-care testing facilitates faster diagnosis and treatment. According to Espicom, the Point of Care Diagnostics market was worth $13.7 billion in 2010 and posted 3 percent growth compared to 2009.

« Annual market growth of 8 to 9% is predicted to 2016 due to a growing interest in the adoption of Point of Care technologies by both healthcare providers and consumers, and the introduction of new products that enable POC testing for more applications, enhance ease-of-use and improve on the accuracy of current products, » notes Espicom.

The POC testing market is highly diverse. Point of care diagnostics can be used for the following medical applications:

• Blood glucose tests
• Other diabetes-related tests
• Cholesterol tests
• Cardiac markers
• Coagulation testing
• Infectious disease tests
• Haematology, blood gases and electrolyte analysers
• Cancer tests
• Urinalysis
• Pregnancy and fertility
• Substance abuse

POC testing plays a significant role in the medical field as it can offer clear benefits over laboratory testing. POC test results are readily available. Laboratory testing, on the other hand, sends out samples to a professional laboratory for processing and analysis. The results of laboratory testing could take weeks before they are returned to the healthcare professional. The drawback of laboratory testing is delayed diagnosis and treatment for the patient. « By increasing the speed of diagnosis, POC diagnostics can offer healthcare providers an opportunity to improve the quality of patient care. It also saves healthcare providers time and reduces costs, » says Espicom.

Several key challenges persist albeit the many positive aspects of the point-of-care market. Concerned laboratory professionals wonder about the decentralization of hospital testing and doctors fear the downside of widespread patient and consumer self-testing. The concern in both cases is that the use of POC products by untrained users may lead to misinterpretation of the results. Hence, there is resistance to the changes that need to be implemented in order for POC products to become more prevalent. Finally, healthcare budgets need to be reworked to provide incentives for hospitals and doctors to use point-of-care products.

Source: http://www.the-infoshop.com/report/es191888-point-of-care-diagno.html