Point-of-Care Technologies Will Transform Customer Markets in the Next Decade

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Mar 6, 2014) - Fueled by point-of-care (POC) technologies, the health care industry is headed for transformative change toward a patient-centric model. The near-term opportunity for developers remains in traditional care settings, but the future lies in home care, according to Lux Research.

"POC technologies have the potential to improve the management of various diseases and conditions, and these devices can be simple enough to be used at the primary care level and in remote settings with no laboratory infrastructure," said Milos Todorovic, Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, "Point-of-Care Technologies: The Coming Impact on Standard of Care."

"Nonetheless, the home care market will take up to a decade to mature, depending on disease application. Meanwhile, care settings like the doctor's office will see faster adoption of POC solutions," he added.

Lux Research analysts explored a wide range of POC technologies across five disease/condition-segmented application spaces -- cardiology, oncology, neurology, infectious diseases and ophthalmology -- to assess their potential to disrupt existing solutions. Among their findings:

• Ophthalmology, infectious disease indications reach consumers first. Ophthalmology will quickly offer consumers multiple devices for self-diagnosis and monitoring of conditions such as cataracts or glaucoma. Infectious diseases will deliver a number of solutions for home use, but tougher fields like oncology care will remain in physicians' offices.
  
  
• Home markets will take time to blossom. Certain segments of POC such as sports and fitness have grown rapidly but the majority of diagnostics and monitoring applications such as cardiology and infectious diseases are in their infancy. The consumer market will become a significant source of revenue for the medical devices industry but it will take between five years and 10 years.
  
  
• Devices need to validate cost savings. The health insurance industry and other payer systems are increasingly wary of the economic impact of increased testing, usually at prices higher than standard procedures. Developers of POC devices need to substantiate their claims of long-term cost savings to ensure adoption.
  
  

The report, titled "Point-of-Care Technologies: The Coming Impact on Standard of Care," is part of the Lux Research BioElectronics Intelligence service.

About Lux Research

Lux Research provides strategic advice and ongoing intelligence for emerging technologies. Leaders in business, finance and government rely on us to help them make informed strategic decisions. Through our unique research approach focused on primary research and our extensive global network, we deliver insight, connections and competitive advantage to our clients. Visit www.luxresearchinc.com for more information.