Depending on symptoms, a doctor often requires a blood sample from a patient. Following this, the doctor sends the blood sample to a laboratory where they analyse it to determine what kind of illness the patient may suffer from.
This is how laboratory diagnostics work. At least, the part of it that focuses on blood diagnostics. Laboratory work, in fact, is one of the most lucrative businesses in the health industry. The profit margin of one examination usually reaches a double-digit figure, which is much higher than the average in other sectors of the health industry, and even higher compared to retail.
Three private firms – Medirex, Alpha Medical and Klinická biochémia – dominate the laboratory diagnostics market in Slovakia; their share on the market represents 87 percent, Trend Analysis data from 2017 suggests.
A lucrative business
