Asia-Pacific Point-of-Care Diagnostics Market (2025-2032)

Point-of-Care diagnostics (PoC diagnostics), also known as bedside or near-patient testing, refers to medical diagnostic testing conducted near the patient, typically at the location where healthcare is provided. The key characteristic of PoC diagnostics is the ability to deliver rapid results, often within minutes, allowing healthcare providers to make immediate treatment decisions or recommendations based on the test outcomes.

The growth of this market is driven by the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, innovations in PoC tests, and a lack of skilled technicians for performing lab tests. However, the pricing pressure due to fluctuations in reimbursements restrains the market’s growth. Furthermore, healthcare professionals’ increasing preference for PoC tests over lab tests will offer significant market growth opportunities. However, a lack of awareness regarding the use of PoC devices challenges the market’s growth.

The demand for pathology services has grown significantly in recent years and is expected to grow further during the forecast period. However, the pathology workforce has not increased in line with this demand. Delays in initial diagnosis can lead to delays in treatment. The workforce shortage can be attributed to aging and retiring professionals and the lack of adequate histology programs to train enough new entrants.

According to Medical Futurist, by 2032, the number of active pathologists may drop by 30% compared to 2010 levels. The Chinese Pathologist Association states that there are only 20,000 licensed pathologists in China, a country with a population of over 1.4 billion. Furthermore, there is a growing need for clinical laboratory workers due to their acute shortage. Factors such as laboratory professionals retiring or leaving the profession, the increasing demand for laboratory services, and changes in clinical laboratory science practices due to technological advances contribute to this shortage of skilled professionals. This shortage disrupts the delivery of healthcare services, impacting patients and healthcare providers. Thus, the shortage of skilled professionals leads to delays in diagnosis and treatment, leading to an increased reliance on self-testing. These factors are boosting the adoption of PoC diagnostics, driving the growth of this market.

Many healthcare professionals in hospitals and clinical laboratories prefer using point-of-care diagnostics to diagnose various health conditions promptly. Healthcare professionals are replacing established diagnostic methods (microscopy, pathogen culturing, biochemical testing, conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA), and other time-consuming diagnostic methods) with new point-of-care diagnostic techniques that provide higher levels of efficiency and reproducibility. As point-of-care diagnostics have superior utility, experts are changing their traditional approaches. This acceptance of point-of-care diagnostics is supporting the research & development efforts of clinical laboratories and other health-services companies in the diagnostics industry. This inclination towards point-of-care methods and practices among physicians drives the growth of the point-of-care diagnostics market.