Delivering point-of-care testing in a managed service contract

Organised by SBK Healthcare Events, it aimed to provide guidance on the key benefits and challenges of adopting a managed service contract (MSC) approach to the delivery of POCT.

Transfer of risk
Craig Hallett from Alere set the scene for the day, emphasising that the expert panel of speakers wanted to prompt an “open and honest” debate that would help point-of-care managers and procurement professionals “benefit from the expertise in the room”. While the NHS has commissioned MSCs for many years, Craig explained that their adoption for pathology services “seems to be surrounded by misinformation, which has led to some confusion. The misunderstandings seem to be compounded when considering how to provide POCT services under a managed contract. Hopefully, today we can clarify the situation, discuss the key issues and review how POCT MSCs can introduce significant benefits to all stakeholders.”

At the simplest level, MSCs offer the opportunity to transfer risk and responsibility for delivering a service to a third-party provider, with the purchaser specifying very strict performance, financial and service-delivery criteria. This approach to service provision has been in place for decades and is widely and successfully used throughout the world. In the UK, the NHS currently has many contracts in place for the provision of a wide range of services including diagnostic imaging, radiology and ultrasound. This has been partly driven by the UK’s unique approach to VAT recovery in the public sector, which currently allows VAT to be recovered on various ‘contracted out’ services, including laboratory services. However, while managed contracts in pathology are increasingly popular, the provision of POCT is relatively new and many health authorities are still in the process of evaluating how best to deliver the services in both hospital and community.