June 28, 2022 – BD unveiled findings from a survey conducted by The Harris Poll, showcasing clinicians’ current sentiment around COVID-19 testing. Among the key findings:
- Clinicians Have Seen an Influx of Patients and Continue to Test for COVID-19: 93% of clinicians say they are likely to recommend a COVID-19 test when a patient is experiencing symptoms that could be either COVID-19 or something else like the flu, allergies or a cold.
- Clinicians Value COVID-19 Testing of All Kinds: 96% of clinicians believe that the right tools for testing are critical for timely diagnosis and care.
- Clinicians Are Interested in Combination Flu/COVID-19 Tests: 87% of clinicians say they would be interested in purchasing combination tests for their practice.
The survey found that about nine in 10 clinicians perform COVID-19 testing, with almost two-thirds reporting that they collect samples and conduct tests on-site (63%) and one in four reporting that they send their samples to an off-site lab (25%). Among those whose practices perform COVID-19 tests, clinicians have administered, on average, 116 COVID-19 tests in the past month.
Most clinicians (85%) reported that they experienced “a great deal or a lot” of patients during the winter flu season, while half reported “a great deal or a lot” of patients during allergy season. However, nearly all clinicians reported at least some degree of patient influx during the winter flu season (99%) and allergy season (97%).
The study also unveiled that 92% of clinicians expect patients to question whether they are experiencing allergies or COVID-19 during this year’s allergy season. Meanwhile, 86% agree that they expect a surge of patients that will require testing during the 2022-2023 flu season.
Nearly all clinicians (99%) reported laboratory PCR tests as effective in detecting COVID-19, while 86% reported rapid antigen tests as effective in COVID-19 detection. However, 97% deem a mixture of either rapid molecular or antigen testing with PCR confirmatory testing as effective in terms of detecting the presence of COVID-19.
The study also found that a vast majority of clinicians (93%) agree that reliable and widely available testing of all types, remains one of the most important measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Likewise, a similar proportion (93%) agree that rapid antigen at-home COVID-19 testing is a good solution for patients who cannot schedule a time at a testing facility or doctor’s office, while 88% would encourage patients to purchase at-home rapid antigen tests for COVID-19.
The vast majority of clinicians surveyed (94%) agree that a combination test is often necessary when patients exhibit symptoms that are common to COVID-19 and other viruses like influenza A and influenza B.
Moreover, 66% say they would be willing to pay more for the ability to have digitally read test results, and/or the ability to automatically report results to local and federal health authorities (62%). Clinicians cited reliability of results (81%), cost (76%), timeliness of results (75%) and ease of use (69%) as the top factors that would make them more interested in using combination tests.