THE ROLE OF COMMERCIAL CLINICAL DIAGNOSTIC LABORATORIES AS PART OF THE PRIVATE MEDICAL SECTOR IN THE UKRAINIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Purpose: the purpose of the study is to analyze the role of the private medical sector and commercial clinical diagnostic laboratories in ensuring the availability and quality of medical services in the context of healthcare reform in Ukraine.Materials and methods. Scientometric databases (Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus), websites of scientific publications, reports of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, and repositories of higher education institutions were used for the analysis. Based on the search results, publications for the last 10 years were processed. The following methods of scientific research were used in the work: bibliosemantic, content analysis and structural-logical analysis.Results. The formation of a developed private medical sector alongside the public health institutions is one of the key principles of reforming the health care system. It has been established that the private medical sector in Ukraine has great potential for growth and creates a competitive environment in the medical services market, which increases the efficiency of the industry as a whole and improves the quality of both diagnostic and treatment and preventive services. According to the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the private healthcare services market in Ukraine shows progressive rise over the period 2021-2023, despite difficulties in the public sector; total costs increased from UAH 175.431 million in 2021 to UAH 235.236 million in 2023, which confirms the increase in demand for these services. On the other hand, its stable development depends on solving the challenges associated with the public medical sector, military actions and the general economic situation. Laboratory medicine, in turn, is an important link in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of medical diagnosis, and commercial clinical diagnostic laboratories play a critical role in the modern healthcare system, because many of them are designed to conduct diagnostic tests in the heavy workload and with high throughput, unlike laboratories of public health institutions. In addition to a wider range of diagnostic tests (from 500 to 1900), the private laboratory sector guarantees the quality of analyses performed in the shortest possible time, a certain level of comfort and the availability of additional services (collection of samples at home, online consultations with specialists, etc.) and loyalty programs. In addition, commercial clinical diagnostic laboratories also help improve the availability of medical services thanks to flexible working hours and an extensive network, which is especially important for people living in remote areas. Moreover, due to their flexibility and ability to quickly adapt to new technologies, commercial clinical diagnostic laboratories not only expand the range of available diagnostic tests, but also stimulate innovation in medical investigations. Finally, in conditions of resource shortages and high workloads on public health institutions, commercial clinical diagnostic laboratories reduce queues and help ensure more efficient organization of medical care, which has a positive effect on the overall health of the population.Conclusions. The analysis will help to form the basis for improving communication, coordination and cooperation between the private medical laboratory sector as a full-fledged participant in the national laboratory services market and public health institutions.