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Elder Lister
By John Muchangi, science editor, The Star Newspaper
Patients pay about four times more for tests in private laboratories in Nairobi compared to the cost at labs in public health facilities, a new survey reveals. Malaria tests are the most exploited with private laboratories charging up to six times the average cost at public labs.
Blood samples being taken for malaria test in a local laboratory.
Patients pay about four times more for tests in private laboratories in Nairobi compared to the cost at labs in public health facilities, a new survey reveals. Malaria tests are the most exploited with private laboratories charging up to six times the average cost at public labs. The laboratories take advantage of patients ignorance with a majority of them unable to tell why the tests were ordered and how much they should cost.
The costs were revealed in a survey by Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board, alongside the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Aga Khan University, the University of Oxford and the University of Waterloo, Canada. The researchers sought to compare pricing information for 49 common laboratory tests within Nairobi. “There was a wide range of prices on several key tests, with private in-facility laboratories charging an average test price of 468 per cent of the average test price in public laboratories across all the 49 tests,” the researchers said.
The survey also assessed patients’ knowledge of testing information including turnaround time, price, and test availability. “We also found that many patients lacked key information regarding the tests they needed and 65 per cent did not know the purpose of the test while 41 per cent did not know the test price at all,” the researchers said. The findings titled “Information asymmetry in the Kenyan medical laboratory sector” - were published in the Global Health Action last month.
Riding on patients ignorance, laboratories charge wildly varying prices. “Mean prices across all 49 tests in stand-alone private laboratories were 300 per cent of the mean in public laboratories and 468 per cent in private in facility (attached to private hospital) laboratories compared to public,” the authors said. Most medical laboratory services in Nairobi are provided by the private sector. The researchers note that the dependence on facilities external to public hospitals has resulted in disjointed health-seeking journeys, thus undermining the concept of a one-stop-shop for patients.
Most private labs do not display their costs and the researchers were forced to use the mystery caller approach to extract price information. Laboratory tests prices in Kenya are not regulated. According to KMLTTB records, at least 522 medical laboratories had been licensed to operate in Nairobi in 2019 when the study was conducted. The 522 are three public, 12 faith-based and 507 private laboratories.
“Our study sample was made up of 13 medical laboratories consisting of seven private laboratories, two faith-based, three public and one academic (not-for-profit) laboratory,” the researchers said. The researchers also interviewed patients exiting clinics to understand if they had access to relevant information about the tests they needed, including costs.
“We noted that 85.7 per cent of the private facilities and the two faith-based laboratories did not provide information on test price and turnaround time publicly to the patients.” They said it would be extremely difficult to control prices charged by private laboratories. They proposed the government should ensure that all public laboratories are well equipped to conduct all the essential diagnostic tests as set out by WHO.
Patients pay about four times more for tests in private laboratories in Nairobi compared to the cost at labs in public health facilities, a new survey reveals. Malaria tests are the most exploited with private laboratories charging up to six times the average cost at public labs.
Blood samples being taken for malaria test in a local laboratory.
Patients pay about four times more for tests in private laboratories in Nairobi compared to the cost at labs in public health facilities, a new survey reveals. Malaria tests are the most exploited with private laboratories charging up to six times the average cost at public labs. The laboratories take advantage of patients ignorance with a majority of them unable to tell why the tests were ordered and how much they should cost.
The costs were revealed in a survey by Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board, alongside the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Aga Khan University, the University of Oxford and the University of Waterloo, Canada. The researchers sought to compare pricing information for 49 common laboratory tests within Nairobi. “There was a wide range of prices on several key tests, with private in-facility laboratories charging an average test price of 468 per cent of the average test price in public laboratories across all the 49 tests,” the researchers said.
The survey also assessed patients’ knowledge of testing information including turnaround time, price, and test availability. “We also found that many patients lacked key information regarding the tests they needed and 65 per cent did not know the purpose of the test while 41 per cent did not know the test price at all,” the researchers said. The findings titled “Information asymmetry in the Kenyan medical laboratory sector” - were published in the Global Health Action last month.
Riding on patients ignorance, laboratories charge wildly varying prices. “Mean prices across all 49 tests in stand-alone private laboratories were 300 per cent of the mean in public laboratories and 468 per cent in private in facility (attached to private hospital) laboratories compared to public,” the authors said. Most medical laboratory services in Nairobi are provided by the private sector. The researchers note that the dependence on facilities external to public hospitals has resulted in disjointed health-seeking journeys, thus undermining the concept of a one-stop-shop for patients.
Most private labs do not display their costs and the researchers were forced to use the mystery caller approach to extract price information. Laboratory tests prices in Kenya are not regulated. According to KMLTTB records, at least 522 medical laboratories had been licensed to operate in Nairobi in 2019 when the study was conducted. The 522 are three public, 12 faith-based and 507 private laboratories.
“Our study sample was made up of 13 medical laboratories consisting of seven private laboratories, two faith-based, three public and one academic (not-for-profit) laboratory,” the researchers said. The researchers also interviewed patients exiting clinics to understand if they had access to relevant information about the tests they needed, including costs.
“We noted that 85.7 per cent of the private facilities and the two faith-based laboratories did not provide information on test price and turnaround time publicly to the patients.” They said it would be extremely difficult to control prices charged by private laboratories. They proposed the government should ensure that all public laboratories are well equipped to conduct all the essential diagnostic tests as set out by WHO.
