Almost half of the industry will ditch GP reports in favour of pharmacy screenings by the end of thi...
Almost half of the industry will ditch GP reports in favour of pharmacy screenings by the end of this month.
At the end of last year, specialist testing company, Gemini Biomedical, rolled out a medical screening pilot in pharmacies in conjunction with Axa.
However, the firm was just the first in a string of providers to look closer at the alternative, according to Nigel Bradshaw, commercial director at Gemini, who confirmed that: "By the end of January, 40% of the protection market will be piloting our new partnership".
He added that a number of major protection players had shown interest in the pharmacy screening scheme, but refused to reveal any names.
The six-month trial, undertaken by Axa, aims to turn around a screening result within 10 days compared with the 25 to 30 days it takes to produce a GP report.
The screening will include traditional tests such as height and weight as well as tests for smoking, drug abuse and alcoholism.
