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How to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Tech-Enabled Clinical Lab
December 9, 2025
Clinical laboratories and pathology groups play a critical role in delivering timely, essential diagnostic insights to physicians and their patients.
They achieve this through the expertise of their laboratory teams and the support of a laboratory information system (LIS) that centralizes, manages, and protects patient and specimen data. An LIS system streamlines and standardizes workflows, ensures accurate specimen tracking, generates and delivers patient reports, strengthens quality control, offers operational insights, and helps laboratories maintain regulatory compliance.
Like the labs they serve, every laboratory information system produced by LIS software vendors varies in features and functionality. They aren’t commodities.
For the best laboratory information system software, the above description serves as a functionality baseline. More should be expected of the LIS software to help lab operators navigate through turbulent times and prepare for tomorrow’s clinical lab and pathology practice.
Discover More: Laboratory Information Systems Are Not Commodities!
Tech-Driven Partnerships Will Define the Next Generation of Diagnostic Excellence
Soon, the most successful labs will be driven by advanced technology. These labs will be adopters of innovation and new tech tools as they become available.
They’ll operate as medical labs and cutting-edge tech enterprises, providing what’s needed for the most accurate testing and the best patient outcomes. They'll enable the lab to become a better business by lowering operational costs, boosting productivity, and attracting and retaining more customers and revenue.
Besides its primary function of using its diagnostic lab software to improve customer relations and patient outcomes, future labs will also be data companies. The most successful ones will work with a technology partner/LIS company that builds enterprise-level pathology lab management solutions that can support the latest advancements.
In essence, a strong partnership between the laboratory and its LIS system provider allows the organization to stay focused on its core diagnostic mission, serving physicians and patients. Meanwhile, the LIS system handles the technical heavy lifting that drives efficiency, operational excellence, and market differentiation.
Discover More: Navigating the Future of Pathology - The LigoLab Advantage
The Importance of Laboratory Information System Software and Automation
So, what does the future look like?
A major shift will be the continued evolution of pathology LIS systems that enable greater automation, support laboratory robotics, and enhance both efficiency and compliance.
Automation within modern LIS software platforms will integrate with advanced technologies and robotic systems capable of performing tasks that were traditionally manual, such as sample preparation, data entry, testing, and result interpretation. This transformation offers substantial benefits, including higher accuracy, faster turnaround times, and reduced operational costs.
Because many laboratory tests involve multiple steps and inherent complexity, manual processes can introduce errors. LIS-driven automation minimizes these risks by executing tasks with precision and consistency.
A comprehensive, future-ready LIS can support every stage of a case’s lifecycle, ensuring proper specimen handling and traceability. Enforcing tighter controls and validation checkpoints it also helps prevent misplaced samples and strengthens overall chain-of-custody accuracy.
How LIS System Automation Boosts Productivity, Reduces Costs, and Accelerates Turnaround Times
By automating repetitive tasks, such as sample preparation and testing, laboratory technicians can focus on more complex tasks that require human expertise. This leads to increased productivity and faster turnaround times for test results.
An automated medical LIS system also works 24/7, reducing the turnaround time for test completion and enabling quicker diagnoses and treatments.
Another benefit of automation is its ability to reduce costs. Automated LIS software requires less labor and can process more samples, leading to significant cost savings for laboratories.
In addition, automation can reduce the number of reagents and consumables used in laboratory tests, further reducing costs.
As LIS system automation continues to evolve, it is likely to become even more integral to the future of clinical laboratories and pathology groups.
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The Role of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Laboratory information systems enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are transforming sample processing and data analysis.
Through advanced image analysis, AI can help pathologists increase diagnostic accuracy and speed, enabling earlier disease detection and improved patient outcomes.
AI models are trained to evaluate tissue images and identify subtle patterns that may be challenging for humans to detect. For instance, AI can pinpoint small or hard-to-see clusters of cancer cells, supporting earlier and more precise diagnoses.
These technologies can also assist with identifying rare or complex conditions that pathologists may encounter infrequently. AI algorithms can learn to recognize indicators of uncommon diseases, offering valuable insights that support accurate interpretation. Additionally, AI can help prioritize cases for review and serve as a quality assurance tool, offering result-matching validation between human interpretations and machine analyses.
How AI Enhances Diagnostic Insight, Collaboration, and Complex Data Interpretation
Beyond image analysis, AI can support pathologists in multiple facets of their work. It can review patient data, such as medical histories and prior test results, to inform more accurate diagnoses and allow pathologists to focus on higher-complexity cases.
AI also strengthens collaboration and knowledge sharing by analyzing large datasets of tissue samples and uncovering patterns that an individual pathologist might overlook. Sharing these insights across teams can improve both diagnostic accuracy and speed.
Another powerful application of AI is its ability to interpret complex laboratory data. Many tests generate extensive datasets that are difficult to evaluate manually. AI algorithms can sift through this information to deliver more accurate and reliable findings, for example, identifying bacteria and microorganisms in microbiology data that may be challenging to detect using traditional methods.
AI can also reveal biomarkers and disease predictors by identifying patterns and anomalies across large datasets. This capability supports the development of new diagnostic tests and personalized treatment strategies. In genetics, for instance, AI can detect markers linked to certain diseases, enabling clinicians to craft treatment plans tailored to a patient’s unique genetic profile.
Discover More: Best Practices for Preparing Medical Labs for AI Integration in Technical and Financial Operations
The Growth of Personalized Medicine
Personalized medicine will continue to expand as healthcare increasingly shifts toward individualized treatment guided by deeper data analysis and interpretation. Telemedicine and remote monitoring technologies will play a key role in enabling this transformation.
At the same time, clinical laboratories and pathology groups will evolve alongside emerging diagnostic tests and therapies that support advancing fields such as genomics and proteomics.
Enhancing Laboratory Reports with Personalized Insights and Patient Education
By leveraging the latest LIS system and personalized medicine technologies, laboratories can create customized pathology reporting templates that incorporate a patient’s unique health conditions, genetic profile, and lifestyle factors. These templates can be tailored to deliver personalized insights and recommendations based on the individual’s needs.
With advanced pathology lab management tools and modern LIS system software platforms, results can also be enriched with interpretive comments that explain the significance of the findings for each specific patient, making reports more meaningful and actionable.
This level of personalization can be achieved by adding context about a patient’s medical history, lifestyle, and other factors that may influence interpretation. Reports may also include recommendations for dietary adjustments, exercise plans, or lifestyle modifications that support better overall health.
Laboratories can further enhance patient understanding by offering educational materials tailored to each individual’s health condition and medical background. These resources help patients interpret their results and grasp the broader implications for their care.
Ultimately, delivering personalized laboratory reports requires a blend of customized templates, tailored result interpretation, contextual recommendations, and relevant patient education. By offering clear, actionable insights, laboratories empower patients to understand their health and make informed decisions about their care.
Discover More: How LigoLab's Pathology Lab Software Supports Lab Report Customization and Client Preferences
Four Key Functions Separating Modern LIS Lab Platforms from Legacy LIS Systems
To operate more effectively today and be ready for the challenges ahead, clinical labs and pathology groups must move beyond their rigid, outdated legacy LIS systems and adopt modern, rules-based, highly configurable LIS software platforms that enhance efficiency and interoperability.
Discover More: Comparing LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software
So how can a laboratory be confident that the LIS system platform and vendor they choose are the right fit for their business?
First, modern medical LIS systems are built on flexible, scalable infrastructures that are designed to support new technologies as they emerge.
Second, future-ready LIS lab platforms are continuously improved by dedicated engineers and informaticians who add new features and enhancements on an ongoing basis.
Third, the LIS software solution should include comprehensive training along with unlimited support and maintenance. As laboratories grow in complexity and volume, strong support becomes essential to overcoming bottlenecks and sustaining momentum.
Finally, the LIS company should act as a true partner, one that genuinely cares about the laboratory’s success and aligns its goals and incentives with yours.
Industry Insights: From LIS System of Record to System of Action - The Next Evolution of Laboratory Information Systems
Tomorrow’s Lab: Tech-Enabled, Growth-Ready, and Leading the Future of Medicine
The clinical labs and pathology groups of tomorrow will be fully tech-enabled and equipped to grow and innovate as the industry continues to evolve.
By adopting modern technologies and forward-thinking approaches to healthcare, they’ll be well positioned to lead the field, remain profitable, and make an even greater impact on medical advancement and patient safety.
Discover More: Can Your Laboratory Information System Support the Latest LIS System Technology?
Discover the Future of Laboratory Informatics with LigoLab
The all-in-one LigoLab Informatics Platform goes beyond traditional pathology lab software, delivering seamless integration, advanced automation, and scalable LIS lab solutions - all built by lab professionals, for lab professionals.
Your lab needs more than just LIS software…it needs a strategic partner.
