22 CONTRIBUTE TO THE HEALTH OF ALL GET CLOSER TO OUR PATIENTS THROUGH INNOVATIVE SERVICES The Group is implementing several off-site clinical pathology projects in France and Nigeria. Also referred to as Point of Care Tests (POCTs), their objective is to make quality diagnoses within a few minutes beyond the walls of the laboratory. For example, Cerballiance Charente forms part of an initiative trialling a care pathway that incorporates off-site pathology for chronic patients on vitamin K antagonists (VKA), and has deployed POCTs at two dialysis centres in La Rochelle and Île d'Oléron. For these patients, the rapidity of the results improves their care thanks to better coordination between healthcare professionals along with the follow-up and, if necessary, rapid adjustment of their treatment. In Nigeria, such an approach enables access to rapid and high-quality diagnosis in areas that are less accessible or less well-equipped. In order to reach as many patients as possible and address the difficulties of accessing healthcare, we also promote patient care at home when this is necessary (difficulty in travelling, frail patients undergoing chemotherapy or hospitalised at home, rural areas, etc.). We take samples ourselves from patients at their homes or organise test collection rounds in rural areas in partnership with local medical teams. We also take samples at establishments such as nursing homes. The Clinical initiative enables sample collectors to obtain information from the patient on their state of health and the context of their visit to the laboratory. Thanks to this information, the laboratory team can adapt care to the specific needs of the patient, according to their medical history. This will enable the pathologist to refine the diagnosis or advice given when validating the results. In the context of any research protocols ongoing within the laboratory, the initiative also makes it possible to inform the patient of the possibility of inclusion in a cohort. In this way, the Group deploys solutions and methods of organisation to participate in the development of decentralised clinical trials, allowing greater comfort, improved patient access to new therapies, and accelerated recruitment of patients in clinical trials, thereby promoting the development of tomorrow's therapies. ADAPT TO REIMBURSEMENT CONDITIONS AT COUNTRY LEVEL Healthcare reimbursement practices and regulations differ from country to country. For example, in France, Belgium and Luxembourg, services are financed by Social Security and mutual insurance. In other countries, particularly outside Europe, the conditions for the reimbursement of medical care do not include full social coverage. This ongoing quest to give access to diagnostic tools to as many people as possible leads us to work tirelessly on the efficiency of our supply chain and to maintain a close relationship with the authorities in order to offer the best possible solutions, especially in terms of price. Particularly in the African countries, but also in Italy, we focus on developing a diagnostic centre model that allows patients to have access to imaging and clinical pathology services in the same place.
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