Faster answers for better outcomes
Rapid diagnostics are revolutionising the way that clinical decisions are made. Rapid diagnostic technology can yield better results for patients, healthcare providers, and the wider population when introduced in the right way. We can help you understand the options for implementing rapid diagnostics into current care pathways, and can quantify the costs, benefits and impact. This gives you the evidence to support better healthcare delivery.
Case Studies
The benefits and cost-savings of a new point-of-care test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea
We developed an understanding of how sexual health clinics in England could use a rapid point of care test for two common sexually transmitted infections. We defined the current patient care pathways and found that the pathways could be streamlined and costs of care reduced by using point-of-care tests. The economic model developed by Aquarius Population Health showed that the test could deliver £10 million in cost savings, and give far more effective management of chlamydia and gonorrhoea at a population level.
Publications
News
Evaluating multi-bug point-of-care tests for diagnosing STIs - New point-of-care (POC) tests are currently being developed which can be used in clinic to simultaneously test for multiple sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In work now published online in BMJ Open, we developed a model to compare three possible strategies for POC STI testing with the current practice of microscopy and lab-based testing. The three… Read More
A rapid testing service for chlamydia and gonorrhoea yields significant patient and public health benefits - Aquarius Population Health, a leading independent health economics consultancy, worked with Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust to assess the impact of Dean Street Express, their award winning sexual health clinic in Soho, London. This service tests symptom-free people wanting a routine sexual health check-up using an on-site 90-minute chlamydia and gonorrhoea rapid test. They… Read More
PRESS RELEASE: Aquarius Population Health wins a prestigious SBRI grant from Innovate UK - Work has begun to develop a digital value proposition tool for a novel rapid sexually transmitted infection (STI) test London, UK, 14 August 2017 Aquarius Population Health, a leading independent health economics consultancy, has recently been awarded an 18-month Innovate UK grant in collaboration with Atlas Genetics Ltd and the Applied Diagnostic Research and Evaluation… Read More
Evaluating the use AMR POCT in treatment of gonorrhoea - Aquarius Population Health recently worked with the Applied Diagnostic Research & Evaluation Unit (ADREU) at St. Georges, University of London, to assess the cost-effectiveness of six hypothetical strategies for using antimicrobial resistance point-of-care testing to guide the treatment of gonorrhoea. Our findings were presented at the STI & HIV World Congress in Rio de Janeiro,… Read More
Evaluating multi-bug point-of-care tests for sexually transmitted infections - We were a collaborator on a recent Innovate UK-funded SBRI project with Atlas Genetics and the Applied Diagnostic Research and Evaluation Unit at St George’s University of London. In this project, our team compared the overall costs, patient benefits and cost-effectiveness of three different multi-pathogen point-of-care testing strategies with the current strategy of microscopy and… Read More
Antimicrobial resistance point-of-care test for gonorrhoea - In a study commissioned by the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, Aquarius Population Health worked with modellers at the University of Bristol to create a mathematical model. The model was used to assess the economic implications and treatment impact of introducing a hypothetical antimicrobial resistance (AMR) point-of-care test (POCT) for gonorrhoea. Results of the study were… Read More
Antimicrobial resistance: Why it matters - Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been described as one of the world’s greatest threats to human and animal health. Some reports suggest that by 2050, AMR could kill around 10 million people each year worldwide. Public health leaders warn we could enter a ‘post-antibiotic’ era where easily treatable common infections become untreatable.
Antimicrobial Resistance: Innovation in rapid diagnostics - Part 3: What role does innovation such as rapid diagnostics have in preventing AMR? Just as new technology has helped us in the fight against global warming (fuel efficiency, clean energy etc.), technology can also help us in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One such area is rapid diagnostics – identified as a key… Read More
Point of care testing: Disruptive innovation – is the NHS ready for it yet? - Our Managing Director, Elisabeth Adams, spoke in November about the importance of exploring the health economics of point of care testing (POCT) at the Royal Society of Medicine Telemedicine and eHealth event in London. The video of her presentation is now online – view the full talk here. Why is it important to explore the… Read More
Understanding barriers to implementing point-of-care tests in paediatric patients - The team at Aquarius Population Health investigated the experience of implementing point-of-care tests (POCTs) for paediatric patients during respiratory disease season (winter 2014 – spring 2015), in collaboration with colleagues from three large hospitals in South London (Guy’s and St. Thomas’, King’s College Hospital, and St. George’s University Hospital). Each centre independently evaluated one POCT test (Enigma® MiniLab™ FluAB-RSV PCR assay, BioMérieux BioFire Filmarray, and Luminex RVP Fast v2) on paediatric patients either in the Accident and Emergency department or admitted as an inpatient.