Industry Insights
How to Solve the Laboratory Industry's Staffing Shortage Problem
July 13, 2026
Editor's Note: This Industry Insights article was first published on September 22, 2022.
Brian Fitzgerald, a skilled writer and regular contributor to LigoLab’s online presence, recently interviewed Dr. James Crawford to discuss the industry's severe shortage of qualified medical laboratory technologists.
In their discussion, Crawford examined the scope of the shortage and potential solutions. The result was an insightful, in-depth article worthy of industry-wide attention. Brian and LigoLab then shared the piece with Clinical Lab Products for publication, thereby broadening its reach.
We invite you to continue reading for an executive summary of that CLP article.
The Growing Crisis: Shortage of Clinical Laboratory Technicians
The U.S. clinical laboratory industry is facing one of its most urgent challenges: a severe shortage of qualified laboratory professionals. This shortage is driven by limited training programs, poor public awareness of the profession, a lack of career advancement opportunities, non-competitive salaries, and an aging workforce retiring faster than new workers enter the field.
The Scale of Laboratory Professionals' Contribution to Healthcare
Clinical laboratory professionals, including technologists, histotechnologists, and cytotechnologists, play an essential role in healthcare. They perform approximately 14 billion tests annually across more than 260,000 CLIA-certified labs, supporting nearly every stage of patient care. Despite representing only 3 percent of total U.S. healthcare spending, laboratory services are critical to diagnosis and treatment.
The Scope of the Problem
The industry is currently short an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 laboratory technologists, with only one technologist per 1,000 U.S. citizens, representing a 7 percent shortfall that is projected to worsen.
Dr. James Crawford of Northwell Health emphasizes that many potential candidates are simply unaware of the profession, as it receives far less public attention than other healthcare roles, such as nursing or physician assistant positions. This awareness gap helps explain why high school and college counselors rarely promote laboratory careers, and why recruitment often depends on personal connections rather than structured outreach.
Barriers to Attracting New Talent
The Awareness and Compensation Gap
Crawford argues that recruitment efforts must include better publicity, clearer career growth pathways, and competitive compensation. Because the profession's demographics skew older, leadership succession is critical, yet the perception of stagnant career opportunities discourages younger workers from entering the field.
Career ladders leading to management, director-level, or executive positions must be actively highlighted to make the profession more attractive to early-career candidates.
The Salary Problem
Salaries for laboratory professionals remain lower than those in many other healthcare roles. Unless these pay gaps are addressed, the profession risks losing qualified candidates to fields that offer higher compensation for comparable educational investment.
Improving Efficiency and Retention
Process Improvement and Technology as a Force Multiplier
Beyond workforce development, Crawford stresses process improvement and technology adoption as essential tools for easing staffing pressures. By standardizing equipment, laboratory information systems (LIS) software, procedures, and competencies across networks such as Northwell Health's 23 hospitals and 800-plus ambulatory sites, labs can increase efficiency and adapt to demand without compromising service quality.
Operational informatics helps laboratories align staffing with peak specimen volumes, reducing workflow bottlenecks and enabling teams to accomplish more with existing resources. It also identifies opportunities to eliminate low-value, repetitive tasks, enabling highly trained personnel to focus on work that delivers the greatest clinical and operational impact.
Industry Insights: How Best Practices and Advanced Laboratory Information System Technology Help Ensure Lab Workflow Management
The Role of IT and Modern Laboratory Information Systems
Technology as the Lab's Information Backbone
Technology plays a pivotal role in addressing the staffing challenge. A modern medical LIS software can streamline operations by automating workflows, reducing manual data entry, minimizing errors, and enhancing interoperability with EHRs, instruments, and third-party services. These advanced platforms also enable customizable reporting, support multiple delivery channels, and often integrate lab revenue cycle management (lab billing) systems to initiate and streamline the laboratory billing process right from order entry.
By reducing reliance on skilled staff for repetitive tasks and offering 24/7 support, an advanced laboratory information system serves as the lab's information backbone, freeing personnel for higher-value work and improving overall operational performance.
Discover More: How Modern Laboratory Information Systems Use Rules and Automation to Drive Efficiency, Scalability, and Growth
Looking Ahead: Crawford's Call to Action
Crawford remains optimistic, viewing the workforce shortage as a call to action rather than an insurmountable obstacle. He believes that by raising awareness, improving career pathways, offering competitive salaries, and leveraging modern laboratory software systems, the laboratory profession can attract the next generation of leaders.
The ultimate goal is to strengthen the role that laboratories hold in delivering high-quality healthcare while inspiring future professionals to join and lead the field.
Read the full CLP article by clicking the link below:
Full CLP Article: The Causes and Potential Solutions for the Current Shortage of Clinical Laboratory Technologists
About the Expert:
Dr. James Crawford, MD, PhD, Senior Vice President, Laboratory Services, Northwell Health
Crawford has built a distinguished career as a champion for pathology and the clinical laboratory profession, working tirelessly to ensure these critical services play a central role in the future of patient-centered healthcare. As a founding member of Project Santa Fe, he has been instrumental in advancing the Clinical Laboratory 2.0 initiative, which urges laboratories to transition from traditional transactional payment models to value-based approaches that deliver improved patient outcomes.
A prolific contributor to the field, Crawford has authored 300-plus publications and currently serves as editor-in-chief of Academic Pathology, the official journal of the Association of Pathology Chairs. In recognition of his contributions, he was honored with the APC's Distinguished Service Award in 2021.
Crawford earned his MD and PhD from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed postgraduate training in anatomic and gastrointestinal pathology at Brigham and Women's Hospital, followed by a fellowship in hepatic pathology at the Royal Free Hospital in London.
How Advanced Laboratory Information Systems Drive Efficiency and Profitability in Modern Medical Laboratories
Advanced laboratory information systems are essential tools for modern clinical laboratories and pathology groups. They help these organizations operate more efficiently, accurately, and profitably, building on the operational benefits described above.
Automation, Interoperability, and Standardization
By automating much of today’s laboratory workflow management, these LIS systems significantly reduce the need for manual data entry, minimize human error, and accelerate turnaround times. They seamlessly integrate with electronic health records, instruments, and third-party services, such as lab billing software, ensuring smooth data exchange and eliminating communication bottlenecks.
A key advantage of advanced LIS software platforms is their ability to standardize processes across multiple locations, enabling consistent quality and performance across large lab networks. Customizable reporting and flexible delivery options for results improve client satisfaction. At the same time, built-in business intelligence tools offer real-time visibility into operational metrics, allowing labs to identify inefficiencies, track performance, and make data-driven decisions that enhance productivity.
Industry Insights: Best LIS Systems - Top Laboratory Information Systems Compared for Clinical, Pathology, and Outreach Labs
Integrated Laboratory Billing Solutions for Optimized Financial Performance
When integrated with modern laboratory revenue cycle management (lab RCM) modules, advanced LIS systems initiate laboratory billing at the order entry stage, leading to faster reimbursements, fewer denials, and improved cash flow. By combining automation, interoperability, and financial optimization, these LIS healthcare platforms allow laboratories to scale services, control costs, and remain competitive in a challenging healthcare environment.
Case Study: In-House vs. Outsourced Laboratory Billing – Navigating the Best Path Forward for Your Lab
Ultimately, advanced LIS systems transform labs into agile, data-driven organizations, capable of delivering higher-quality care while maximizing operational and financial performance. Together, these capabilities reinforce the role of technology in helping laboratories adapt and compete.
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Frequently Asked Questions About the Laboratory Staffing Shortage and the Role of Advanced LIS System Technology
How severe is the current shortage of laboratory technologists in the United States?
The U.S. clinical laboratory industry is currently short an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 qualified laboratory technologists, representing a 7 percent shortfall relative to demand, with only one technologist per 1,000 citizens. The shortage is expected to intensify as experienced laboratory professionals retire at a faster rate than new graduates enter the workforce.
What are the root causes of the clinical laboratory technologist shortage?
The shortage stems from several compounding factors, including limited and underfunded training programs, poor public awareness of laboratory careers among high school and college students and counselors, non-competitive salaries relative to other healthcare roles, a lack of visible career advancement pathways, and an aging workforce that is exiting the profession faster than it can be replaced.
Why are competitive salaries so important for solving the laboratory staffing shortage?
Earning a medical laboratory science degree costs approximately $100,000, comparable to or exceeding the cost of other healthcare credentials. If laboratory salaries remain significantly lower than those in competing healthcare roles, the profession will continue to lose qualified candidates to fields that offer better financial returns for the same investment. Addressing this pay gap is essential to making laboratory science careers more attractive to the next generation of professionals.
How can laboratory information systems help labs operate effectively despite staffing shortages?
A modern LIS system addresses staffing pressure by automating repetitive, high-volume tasks that previously required manual labor, including data entry, specimen routing, result reporting, claim coding, and eligibility verification. This enables staff to focus on higher-value scientific and diagnostic work rather than administrative tasks. Standardizing workflows across multi-site networks through a unified LIS platform also reduces the training burden and enables more efficient use of available personnel.
What does process improvement look like in a clinical lab facing staffing shortages?
Process improvement in the context of staffing shortages focuses on eliminating non-productive tasks for highly trained staff, standardizing equipment and procedures across facilities, aligning staffing schedules with peak specimen intake through operational informatics, and introducing automation to remove manual touchpoints from core workflows. Together, these measures enable labs to maintain or increase throughput without proportional increases in headcount.
What is the Clinical Laboratory 2.0 initiative, and why is it relevant to the staffing shortage?
Clinical Laboratory 2.0 is an initiative championed by Dr. Crawford through Project Santa Fe. It urges laboratories to transition from traditional transactional payment models toward value-based care approaches that demonstrate improved patient outcomes. This shift repositions the laboratory as a strategic healthcare partner, improving funding, recognition, and long-term career attractiveness for laboratory professionals, which could help address both the awareness and compensation barriers contributing to the staffing shortage.
How does an integrated laboratory billing solution within a modern LIS system help labs manage the financial impact of staffing shortages?
When lab billing is integrated directly into the LIS system, the RCM cycle begins at order entry, applying eligibility verification, coding, and claim scrubbing automatically, without requiring dedicated billing staff to manage each claim. This significantly reduces the administrative labor burden, accelerates reimbursement, and improves cash flow, giving lab leaders more financial resources to invest in competitive salaries and training programs that help attract and retain qualified laboratory professionals.
