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Does this device bring relief for the German test laboratories?
The small box evaluates so-called PoC-Nat tests.
And they combine the best of two worlds: they use a similar technique to PCR tests and are almost as accurate.
And are evaluated directly on site, so they are as quick as rapid antigen tests.
Stephan Mielke, pharmacist:
"We think it's part of giving patients the opportunity to find out their test results as quickly as possible.
And that was the motivation for us to buy such a device.«
Such a device costs 2500 to 3000 euros.
The operators of the Grachtenhaus pharmacy in Hamburg-Bergedorf have calculated: If four to five customers take a PoC-NAT test every day for five months - and pay - the device is refinanced.
But if the customers stay away, then the device becomes a loss-making business.
During our visit we will see if the quota is right that day.
Basically, the demand for corona tests in Germany is currently extremely high.
The laboratories are pushing the limit: in the past week they have evaluated almost two and a half million PCR tests.
According to the association "Accredited Laboratories in Medicine", the nationwide average utilization is 93 percent.
That is why the federal government is currently adapting the test regulation: A red warning in the Corona app should no longer entitle you to a free PCR test, a positive rapid test must be enough.
In the laboratories, tests of certain groups such as high-risk patients or hospital staff should also have priority.
Means for many others: wait even longer.
This is annoying, especially after false-positive rapid tests – and expensive for employers due to the failure.
PoC -NAT tests
could
provide relief.
They have a similar specificity to PCR tests, so there are virtually no false positives.
False-negative results, on the other hand, are more likely to occur than with the PCR test.
When traveling, they are sometimes recognized in the same way as PCR tests - but not always.
But the big advantage is that the evaluation only takes ten minutes.
So far no one has come to the Grachtenhaus pharmacy for the PoC-NAT test that day.
There was a registration - but it was canceled again.
To see the device in operation, we do a test ourselves.
After the smear everything goes very quickly.
No laboratory is required, the evaluation is carried out directly in the pharmacy.
One downside: This device cannot test multiple swabs at the same time.
There are larger versions, but they are still significantly more expensive.
If the PoC-NAT tests are used across the board, they would be a good supplement to the PCR tests, for example for certain professional groups.
Stephan Mielke, pharmacist:
»What we can avoid is perhaps an unjustified quarantine.
If someone works in care facilities.
If someone works in important public functions - up to garbage collection - that these operations have to be maintained even if we have high sick leave.«
The Federal Ministry of Health also considers the PoC-NAT tests to be a useful part of the test strategy.
Statement from the Federal Ministry of Health:
"PoC-NAT rapid tests are particularly well suited in situations where you need a relatively reliable test result within a short time..."
Despite this, only a few devices are currently in use.
The reason: The subsidy that the federal government pays out for the PoC-NAT tests does not cover the costs.
The same applies to PoC-NAT tests as to PCR tests: If someone is entitled to a free test, it will be paid for by the federal government.
For the PoC-NAT tests, however, the federal government is currently only adding 30 euros.
The amount should soon rise to a good 40 euros.
But even that is not enough, according to pharmacist Mielke.
Stephan Mielke, pharmacist:
»The marginal costs – if we really only take the material – are somewhere in the range that the federal government will also finance.
If you were to calculate on a full cost basis, the amount would be somewhere around 60 euros.
This means that we actually still bring money with us for every test if we use the test system that we have in use today.«
So the pharmacy does not offer the tests for free, but for 79 euros.
There is no federal subsidy at all.
Why is the federal government not subsidizing the tests to cover costs?
After a request from SPIEGEL, the Ministry of Health dodged.
Spokesman for the Ministry of Health:
»It is planned to adjust the reimbursement level for Poc-NAT tests.
I ask for your understanding, however, that the final consultations still have to be awaited.«
The ministry does not answer the question of whether or how PoC-NAT tests should be used more extensively and cost-effectively.
Our result is also there quickly: negative.
But the refinancing plan hasn't worked out so far: in the first three months, the Grachtenhaus pharmacy only carried out around 40 Poc-NAT tests.
And on this day it stays that way: Not a single paying customer comes.
Stephan Mielke, pharmacist:
»Yes, we are making a loss with it today, yes.
That's so.
And yet it's okay, because we're doing our part to fight the pandemic and because we have test capacities that - if the situation really increases to such an extent that the number of sick people increases so much - that laboratories may no longer be able to do.
Then there is the contribution of the pharmacies in securing the system.«