Laboratory Management
Laboratory management in today’s clinical lab industry is changing rapidly and facing entirely new challenges. One problem is the lack of upcoming younger lab managers, as the retirements of baby boomer pathologists, medical technologists and lab scientists are in the near future. These individuals make up the largest proportion of supervisors, managers, and lab administrators working in labs today.
As they retire, every clinical lab and pathology group needs to have the next generation of leaders ready to step up and assume responsibilities. But, across the lab industry, there are limited opportunities for every lab’s brightest up-and-comers to get the regular management development opportunities that are common among Fortune 500 companies. The Dark Intelligence Group has called for the establishment of a mentoring program to help overcome this problem.
At the same time, downward pressure on reimbursements and mounting competition have created an environment that requires much more effort for a medical lab to grow and thrive.
Legislation, including the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009 and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010, have placed significant demands on medical laboratories and healthcare providers to improve internal efficiency even while offering more services for less money. This pressure to “do more with less” is further compounded by the need to deliver increasingly personalized client service to retain and win clients.
With the era of fee-for-service medicine coming to a close, every clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology organization needs a strategy for getting paid, as new reimbursement models that support patient-centric care will make up a larger portion of lab revenues.
The challenge for every clinical laboratory manager is to understand how to evolve from a business model that is accession-centric or volume-centric to one that is patient-centric.
Many clinical laboratories today are developing data repositories to logically link all transactional and other information about a patient. These repositories allow physicians to see all relevant information, identify trends, and provide better care as a result, enabling labs to provide greater value to their customers, patients and payers, thus creating more value and becoming more patient-centric.
How AI and Image Management Systems Create Workflow Advantages
CEO Summary: Digital pathology, image management software, and AI are changing the operational landscape for some pathology groups. Expert Renuka Kulkarni, MD, explains how applying AI upstream in the pathology workflow can increase eff…
Lab Adopts AI-Assisted Digital Workflow to Streamline Compliance
CEO Summary: Legacy, a company that provides at-home sperm testing and freezing services, adopted a digital system in 2023 to streamline document control and inspection preparation. During a session at the Executive War College, the ven…
Creating Diagnostic Management Team Consultations Using AI
CEO Summary: Prominent clinical pathologist Michael Laposata, MD, PhD, believes that artificial intelligence can be a major productivity booster for diagnostic management teams in health systems. He discussed his implementation of such …
For Independent Laboratories, Access to AI May Be a Great Equalizer
CEO Summary: As the availability of artificial intelligence increases, independent clinical laboratories will become beneficiaries of the quickly evolving technology. An expert panel at this year’s Executive War College examined AI in…
Newsmaker Interview with ASCP’s Alexandra Brown, MD
CEO SUMMARY: In this Q&A, Alexandra Brown, the new chief executive at ASCP, explains strategies she’s eyeing to stem the shortage of talent in the pathology and laboratory medicine workforce. Brown also discusses how to bring more…
Missing Business Skills Undercut Young Pathologists
CEO Summary: While much attention is given to the plight of retiring pathologists, not enough awareness falls to the lack of business skills held by younger incoming pathologists who want to run a practice. One solution, says Robert Tes…
Breaking the Traveler Cycle: A 90-Day Roadmap to Build a Sustainable Clinical Lab Workforce
CEO SUMMARY: Fairbanks Memorial Hospital eliminated traveler dependence by implementing a 30-60-90-day workforce strategy centered on data analysis, internal talent development, education partnerships, and employee retent…
ASCP’s New Pathology Analytics Platform Aims to Improve Workflows
CEO SUMMARY: During a recent webinar, Sachin Gupta, PhD, of the American Society for Clinical Pathology demonstrated the organization’s new Performance and Diagnostics Insights (PDI) analytics and benchmarking platform. PDI provides e…
How Clinical Lab Leaders Can Take Advantage of C-Suite Priorities
CEO SUMMARY: A new industry survey by Siemens Healthineers indicates that hospital executives increasingly recognize medical laboratories as vital clinical assets. However, securing capital based on that good will require…
Pathology Lab Opportunities for Biopharma Collaboration
As anatomic pathology laboratories face declining reimbursements and other challenges to their bottom lines, one possible solution could involve collaboration with biopharmaceutical companies. But what exactly are drug companies looking for, and how can labs forg…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXIII, No. 13 – Special Issue Fall 2026
In The Dark Report’s fall 2026 special issue, we review the state of artificial intelligence in clinical laboratories and pathology practices. Briefings include how AI can be a great equalizer for independent labs; why AI can help with diagnostic management team consultations; the role of AI in revenue cycle management; a case study on how AI-assisted workflow streamlined inspection readiness; and how image management systems and AI can work together.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
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