In November 2011, Axis-Shield (Dundee, Scotland), an international in vitro diagnostics company, signed an agreement with MinuteClinic, a large retail medical clinic provider in the United States. Under the terms of the agreement, Axis-Shield will provide an Afinion analyzer for each of the approximately 600 MinuteClinic locations in the US so patients can access hemoglobin A1c testing, with results provided in three minutes.

Minute Clinic is a division of CVS Caremark, a large pharmacy health care provider in the United States. MinuteClinic’s walk-in medical clinics are staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who provide treatment for common family illnesses and injuries, administer vaccinations, conduct physicals and wellness screenings, and offer monitoring for chronic conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and asthma.

Providers in these retail clinics will use Axis-Shield’s Afinion analyzer to perform the CLIA-waived HbA1c tests for patients with diabetes. The medical laboratory test results will be available in only three minutes. The addition of HbA1c testing is part of MinuteClinic’s business strategy to offer more services in chronic disease management.
The A1c test measures average blood glucose control for the past 2 to 3 months. It is determined by measuring the percentage of glycated hemoglobin, or HbA1c, in the blood. The A1c test may be used to screen for and diagnose diabetes.

Results from HbA1c tests are used by physicians to make treatment decisions, such as how to maintain or improve a diabetic’s glycemic level. IVD Technology, noted that in vitro diagnostics (IVD) manufacturers are working to develop point-of-care test (POCT) solutions for hemoglobin A1c in order to tap this sizeable market.

Essentially, diabetes is a disease where more than one-third of the American population is either diabetic or prediabetic. That is why retail clinics, like MinuteClinic, want to begin serving this market.

The new agreement between MinuteClinic and Axis-Shield demonstrates how the retail clinic industry is actively moving into chronic disease management. Naturally, an expanded menu of medical laboratory tests will be needed to support these additional clinical services.

MinuteClinic's decision to deploy a point-of-care hemoglobin A1c test in 600 clinic locations nationally is one rather small step toward a steady expansion in the range of healthcare services that will be offered by the retail clinic industry. It is a reminder of how swiftly new models of care delivery are evolving in the United States.

It will be interesting to see whether local medical laboratories will develop a menu of specialized laboratory testing services that would add value to these retail pharmacies as they provide expanded services to patients with diabetes and other chronic diseases.

Related Links:
MinuteClinic
Axis-Shield