Bruce, Thanks for your reply. I have always been a little confused about how Quidel products (and other med producs for that matter) are distributed. It is my understanding that Quidel has a small "sales force" of employees around the country who are not really "salesmen". Rather, they travel to drs offices, provide info about Qdel products and encourage physicians to buy Quidel products-the actual sales are made through med product distributors like General Medical, Durr Medical, ABCO Distributors, etc. In other words, the QDEL "salesmen" act more like cheerleaders or "disseminators of information", rather than actually selling or distributing the product - can you confirm my understanding or am I just misinformed??
Regarding Astra/Merck, the maker of Prilosec, it is my understanding that they have an agreement with a company called Chemtrak (CMTR) for the distribution of Chemtrak's H. pylori diagnostic test (under the Astra/Merck label, I believe). I think the name of this test is HP-Chek. I don't know the particulars about this test, although I do believe I am correct in saying they do not have a CLIA waiver, like Qdel's QuickVue test. As a family practitioner, do you do "waived only" tests in your office, or are you certified to do "moderately complex" tests under CLIA? If you are a "waived only" dr., I suspect you just got your first visit from a Quidel rep because they didn't have CLIA-waived strep a and H. pylori tests until this year. If you are a "waived only" dr, I'm surprised the Astra representative was able to approach you about a test which you may not be eligible to perform. This is all speculation on my part but I'd appreciate your comments - Also, I'm encouraged by your confidence in Quidel products. |
