Hi richard luis, long time since we talked.
My feeling is that thinprep is a separate issue from the automated screening instruments, and is in fact a compliment to those instruments. Also, the thinprep (cytyc) is only now spreading as a test. I think it is making a definite impression and will become popular. Why? A story follows...
I talled about this company and it's test with 3 gyn's. One jumped all over it, one was sort of interested, and one thought it raised the cost of medical care (interestingly, the first one is very conservative and the last one is a feminist---all pretty good though). I got the info. from cytyc and gave it to the first one (list of labs doing it). Now it turns out he is the first one in the state offering it, beating out the top places and the cities. The newspaper carried it as a header on the front page and the story was on page 3. Now women are talking about having this new test and feeling more confident because they have heard about the problems with the old test. The second gyn is also doing the test. and the third will have to soon.
Now this looks good, but getting a small list from cytyc of labs doing this test was like pulling teeth. They were worried about competition! Instead of just getting the test out there, they feel that you have to jump through a couple of hoops to BUY their stuff. This is the attitude that lets a company lose it's advantage. Other companies will catch up eventually in a year or two. In the meantime, cytyc could become the standard, or continue to act like they have the holy grail.
In summary, cytyc looks very good, but management still doesn't realize that they have a product that is unique, and are not throwing it out there. Once one doc in a town is doing it, the others will have to. |
