Evolving digital technologies address today’s challenges, promise future value
There is no denying that data has become a driving force in healthcare. Thirty percent of the world’s data volume is generated by the healthcare industry with health data on track to grow by 36% annually.1 With the volume of healthcare data on the rise, digital technologies help create more connected, agile health systems and unlock new possibilities for laboratories to play an even more prominent role in delivering better patient care.
Seizing opportunities to elevate the impact of diagnostic testing begins with understanding how digital solutions can address laboratories’ current and most significant challenges. Universally, labs today are looking for strategies and solutions to help with the following:
- Increase efficiency – In light of current staff shortages, labs need simplified workflows that enable them to run more tests with fewer staff while maintaining quality and improving test turnaround times (TATs).
- Improve connectivity – Evolving to minimize siloed data and systems, labs are looking for ways to securely manage and integrate larger volumes of data across core, molecular and pathology labs, as well as point-of-care settings.
- Positively impact patient care – As partners in informed healthcare decision-making, labs aim to deliver healthcare providers and patients the right insights at the right time to diagnose disease, determine appropriate therapy, and monitor illness.
Maximizing operational efficiency
The rising demand for skilled technicians continues to be a major concern for laboratories. With non-supervisory vacancy in specialized core labs closing in on 15% across U.S. hospitals,2 the workforce shortage is expected to worsen as demand for medical laboratory technologists and technicians is projected to increase by 11% between 2020 and 2030.3 Under pressure to identify new and better ways to use limited resources while maintaining quality and reliability, labs are exploring innovative methods that prioritize less labor-intensive workflows. As many labs are discovering, implementation of digital technologies designed to reduce manual processes can increase operational efficiency, streamline daily operations, reduce errors, and free up available staff to complete more complex tasks.
Performing more than 13 million tests annually, Huntsville Hospital in Huntsville, Alabama, is a case in point. Using middleware with automated quality control (QC), the hospital lab reduced manual QC steps and decisions by 62.5%, decreased total clicks by 99%, and improved its routine average TATs by more than 16 minutes.4 While quality control is vital to lab performance and the accuracy of test results, through digital solutions, Huntsville Hospital’s lab was able to simplify time-consuming QC workflows, minimizing impact on staffing.
With pathologists also in high demand, digitization of slides improves how pathology services are delivered as labs face higher volumes and increased histopathology complexity.5 Remote access to whole-slide images not only makes it possible for pathologists to serve more labs but also allows laboratories to employ pathologists located in other geographic areas.
Also related to optimized staffing and streamlined workflows, laboratories with digital pathology solutions have the capacity to image large numbers of glass pathology slides rapidly at high resolution through a digital scanner, eliminating time-intensive manual processes. Comparing a digital pathology scanner with a remote-controlled microscope, a study published in the Journal of Clinical Pathology found the average time to diagnose a case decreased from 19 to 11 minutes using whole-slide images.6 The technology also increased the number of pathology slides scored per hour by more than 15 times compared to the manual process.6
Enabling connectivity and data integration
As laboratory systems become increasingly complex, interoperability challenges are a huge drain. It is estimated that low interoperability, largely the result of disparate, siloed data and systems, costs U.S. healthcare entities more than $30 billion.7 And with laboratory test results supporting more than 70% of medical decisions,8 there is considerable need for intelligent laboratories that can extend the digital impact of every test beyond the reporting of an accurate result. By integrating disparate data streams (think IT systems such as laboratory information systems and electronic health records, as well as third-party devices), digital solutions designed for connectivity create a real advantage by turning operational data into actionable insights, increasing transparency of operational metrics and lifting the veil on opportunities for improvement that drive both business performance and higher-quality patient care.
As digital solutions move to decentralized, point-of-care settings like physician offices, urgent care centers, and emergency rooms—connectivity becomes even more vital. Digitally connected data and systems allow labs to maintain control and help ensure efficient management of both instruments and operators.
Improving healthcare decision-making
As partners with clinicians in decision-making that impacts patient care, laboratories are focused on providing accurate and timely results necessary for providers to diagnose illness and manage patient needs. Diagnostic and medical complexity, coupled with higher volumes of data and information, creates challenges using medical data to enable confident care decisions. A report detailing primary care physicians’ (PCPs) views on healthcare in the U.S. reveals that 76% of PCPs are unsure about the correct use of diagnostics.9 Implying a directive for additional guidance, this level of uncertainty underscores the need for digital tools that can extract medical insights from data to promote better healthcare decisions.
Today’s digital solutions are already enabling this type of clinical insight. Delivering higher medical value to support patient care, digital technology now allows hospitals and labs to set up a single point of access for integrating and consolidating high-value medical algorithms across disease areas. With these tools, users can combine and analyze data to help make clinical decisions and guide clinical workflows based on current practice guidelines. Through digital solutions that support oncology, for example, clinicians have ready access to tumor board and clinical decision support apps, including treatment guidelines, publication searches, and clinical trial matching that aid in therapy planning and patient monitoring. Facilitating secure remote access to slides and information, digital pathology solutions connect pathologists to peers and specialists around the world. In a study analyzing the use of expert opinions, 78% of pathologists say that second opinions increase diagnostic accuracy.10
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning further enhance diagnostic capabilities by identifying patterns and anomalies in pathology slides that may be missed by the human eye. This can lead to earlier and more accurate detection of cancer and other diseases. AI-powered tools can also extract valuable insights and patterns from broader patient data to better characterize and inform diagnosis, predict case outcomes, and guide treatment planning. In the diagnosis of sepsis, for example, training AI models using available health data creates the potential for medical algorithms to support more accurate diagnosis of the deadly disease. Finding global patterns in the complexities of sepsis presentation, AI can help illuminate the likelihood that a patient will become septic and/or the potential progressions of the disease.11,12 Because AI algorithms depend on extensive datasets and timely TATs to continuously improve performance, connectivity between digital healthcare platforms is vital to maximizing the utility of AI-based tools.
Digital’s future in diagnostic testing
The potential of digital technology to transform healthcare is both immense and inspiring. Digital solutions are destined to revolutionize diagnostic testing, fundamentally enhancing patient care. By empowering laboratories to achieve peak operational efficiency and provide deeper clinical insights, the contribution of digital advancements to the future of diagnostics is increasingly undeniable. While the journey to digital transformation13 is unique for each laboratory, the adoption of a robust digital infrastructure and advanced technologies equips labs of all sizes to embrace a digital future that promises not only improved operational performance but also significantly better health outcomes for patients.
References
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8. FDA and CMS statement: Americans deserve accurate and reliable diagnostic tests, wherever they are made. Cms.gov. Published January 18, 2024. Accessed February 25, 2025. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/fda-and-cms-statement-americans-deserve-accurate-and-reliable-diagnostic-tests-wherever-they-are.
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10. Geller BM, Frederick PD, Knezevich SR, et al. Pathologists’ use of second opinions in interpretation of melanocytic cutaneous lesions: policies, practices, and perceptions. Dermatol Surg. 2018;44(2):177-185. doi:10.1097/DSS.0000000000001256.
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