Market Audit
Promoting and supporting the preparation of the UK market audit report and European Market Data summary.
There are a number of reasons why accurate data on the UK consumption of clinical in-vitro diagnostic products should be gathered and made generally available. Perhaps of the greatest significance here is the need to be able to back up arguments presented to health care decision makers about the value of diagnostic tests and the extent to which they are being used or adopted. We all know that the expenditure on IVD reagents and systems is a tiny proportion of health care costs, but we should be able to demonstrate correlations between the adoption of new tests and improved outcomes. We cannot do that unless we can measure relevant parameters such as tests performed or kits purchased or sold.
In addition to this, there is value to member companies themselves of good market data independently obtained, and there may be value to our customers as well, who are not always aware of how testing trends in their laboratories reflect national trends towards or away from particular tests.
Apart from these arguments, an industry that is not confidently able to present statistics on its own size and composition can hardly expect to receive serious attention or help from government. We therefore strive to get the best possible data to provide reliable reports which can be used in discussions with policy makers and influencers.
Chairman - John Bagshaw, bioMerieux
November 2007
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