Important factors to consider for meeting a community’s infectious disease needs
Recently, clinical laboratories have seen a dramatic increase in the adoption of molecular diagnostic systems for infectious disease testing. These platforms support a laboratory’s need to generate clinically actionable data faster than ever before, compared to traditional methods, without compromising reliable performance.
However, with so many options available, it’s important to assess which factors are most important for selecting the right system for your patient population. After all, a one-size-fits-all assay approach may not yield optimal results. Clinical lab experts consider questions like these:
How can my lab provide flexibility to meet the needs of all ordering physicians and their patients?
Flexibility is imperative when it comes to managing capacity, selecting your testing algorithm, managing variation in patient demographics, and balancing results with reimbursement concerns. Being able to adapt can prove to be extremely valuable for a laboratory and ordering physicians. When selecting an assay provider, be sure to look for one that offers customizable solutions for high- and low-throughput needs, as well as targeted testing and broad panel assays.
Will the solution provide reasonable and medically necessary data for pediatric, geriatric, and immunocompromised patients?
Clinical laboratories need flexibility when testing different populations of patients, often looking for a much wider range of possible pathogens in patients with weak or not fully developed immune systems. To address this, lab directors must seek out assays that offer broad panels with patient-specific flexibility in reporting results.
Should I use a laboratory developed test (LDT) or is an IVD required?
Depending on the services offered, it may be beneficial for the lab to offer LDTs as well as IVD assays. For those labs that offer both, it is helpful to choose a platform that can run IVDs and LDTs concurrently, without having to change the thermocycling profile or other test parameters, such as our ARIES® System.
What is the reimbursement environment for molecular diagnostics?
Payer reimbursement can be dynamic, so it is important to be able to test for the most relevant and appropriate targets. The flexibility and utility offered by Luminex solutions can ensure labs are reporting results that meet these criteria.
Will this assay help us with the more common infectious diseases, like respiratory and gastrointestinal illnesses?
Infectious disease testing is made more complex by seasonality, which can cause big spikes in demand. Labs need both high throughput systems and sample to answer instruments to handle this demand, without sacrificing turnaround time or resource allocation.
