Diagnostics
The at-home testing revolution In other words, there are still quite a few obstacles in the way when it comes to getting new technologies off the ground. But that’s not to say the pandemic hasn’t changed the diagnostics space for good. One big change, which does appear to be sticking, is the move towards home testing methods and at-home collection methodologies. This ties in with the broader push towards telehealth and remote monitoring – healthcare doesn’t have to be confined to the doctor’s office, but can be taken into the patient’s own hands.
Healthcare is no longer confined to the doctor's office due to a revolution in at-home testing.
Swiss drugmaker Roche had completed three separate PCR tests for the virus. Several other companies followed suit. Arguably, this rapid development would not have been possible without the experience gained during the pandemic.
Challenges to overcome
Of course, as well as looking at what worked, it’ll be important to pay attention to what didn’t. In 2020, test manufacturers focused their production on Covid- 19 tests – an understandable decision, but one that impacted their capacity more broadly. Faced with reagent shortages, many labs stopped manufacturing tests for sexually transmitted infections. On top of that, with so many different tests in development, the FDA and other governmental agencies were overwhelmed with submissions. It was reported that the FDA was ‘working around the clock’ on Covid-related activities, which ‘adversely impacted’ the rest of its workload.
“One silver lining to the pandemic has been the openness among different companies to come together to bring up new testing solutions in a faster time frame.” Matthew Binnicker
15
The number of people who worked on developing and validating a Covid-19 diagnostic within three weeks.
The Mayo Clinic 12
“Hopefully moving forward, whether that be through government support, or the test manufacturers building some flexibility into their system, we won’t see as many disruptions as we did in the early days of the pandemic,” says Binnicker. “We also need more funding and resources for agencies that are reviewing new diagnostic tests.” Taylor adds that we need improvements in our digital infrastructure, making it easier to securely share data between different parts of the healthcare system. “Further adoption of cloud and blockchain technologies could improve the cybersecurity of health data,” she says.
“One area the pandemic has highlighted is the ability of the public to self-sample and carry out their own tests,” says Taylor. “This could have a significant impact on how disease screening and infectious disease testing is carried out going forward. Patient awareness and engagement with their health have also increased – there is now a real awareness and demand for convenient diagnostic testing.” Binnicker believes that, post-pandemic, there will be a whole new space to fill in infectious disease testing. This might include home-based tests for sexually transmitted or respiratory infections. “There will be a demand for more accurate test options that individuals can perform from the comfort of home – I see that as the next era of infectious disease diagnostics,” he says. At the same time, it will be crucial to develop systems around joined-up care, ensuring that the test results make their way to that person’s provider. Binnicker points out that, in many situations, a positive result isn’t being tracked. That means closing the gap between the patient and their healthcare team is going to be essential. Taylor remarks that the use of PCR and lateral flow technologies has grown significantly. We will soon see opportunities to apply this infrastructure across different disease areas – and even ongoing issues like antimicrobial resistance. The same applies to genomic sequencing, which has really proved its mettle as a public health tool.
“Overall, the changes we are seeing in diagnostics have the potential to provide faster and more effective services,” she says. “Many of the diagnostic technologies developed as part of the pandemic response are platform technologies that could be used for other areas of infectious disease testing.” Of course, we are not out of the woods yet with Covid-19. We face the prospect of another difficult winter, marked by high levels of flu and respiratory syncytial virus as well as Covid. With new threats emerging all the time, the ‘new normal’ seems to involve a large element of unpredictability. If the diagnostics community can harness lessons learned during this period, healthcare systems will be well equipped to face whatever challenges are coming their way.
Practical Patient Care /
www.practical-patient-care.com
Clara Murcia/
Shutterstock.com
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