More than five years ago, in a “Lab of the Future” supplement for Advantage Business Media, more than half (55%) of the respondents to a reader survey indicated that the most important technical issue in future lab design was “right sizing” of the lab. Four years ago, a similar survey found that bench space — a derivative of size — was indicated as the most important issue (66%). In another survey performed, cost had leapt to the lead (59%), while lab size (27%) had fallen and technology advancements took the lead as the more important issue and change needed in the future.
While the current criteria chosen for the lab of the future is very much a factor of the current environment, the results are also a factor of how fast and what technologies are changing.
Laboratory automation and the growing advancements in technology have transformed the typical workday for many labs and lab staff. Thanks to the creativity, imagination, and hard work of researchers and companies in the lab field, lab staff can set up, run, and analyze the results of tests in a fraction of the time they needed in the past. They can also accomplish the tasks with less hands-on intervention than ever before. As a result, technicians who used to spend their days performing tasks of tedious repetition now have more time to think creatively about the implications of their work.
While the lab industry has indeed made significant advancements in the past years, it’s important to remember how fast those changes happened. While they may not have happened overnight, they certainly happened quickly — and labs that did not embrace new methodologies or technology were left in the dust. As innovation continues to happen in the lab, we believe more than ever before, technology — and not just lab instrumentation — will play an increasingly important role as labs strive to get better at what they do, and stay competitive for the sake of the patient and the healthcare industry as a whole.
So what kinds of changes do we see happening in the next 5 years?
We’ve created an ebook of our top 5 technology predictions for the next 5 years to help your lab prepare for the advancements:
- Cloud-based technology will replace installed software
- Labs will need superior flexibility with reporting
- All lab systems will be integrated
- Labs will be able to adapt to any type of testing
- Security and protection will become increasingly important
Download the entire ebook to learn about these 5 technology predictions. What are you predicting lab technology will look like in 5 years?
For more information on how your lab can prepare for tech advancements, check out these recent Pathagility resources:
Pathagility: Built For the Lab of Today
To learn more about how Pathagility can help your lab can keep up with the changing technology landscape, request a 30-minute demo.