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Healthcare Leaders Are Investing in Laboratories: Here's Why Your LIS Matters More Than Ever
August 10, 2026
For decades, hospital and health system laboratories were often viewed primarily as operational support departments responsible for processing tests and reporting results. That perception is changing rapidly.
That conclusion is supported by a recent article in Today's Clinical Lab, which highlighted survey findings commissioned by Siemens Healthineers and conducted by YouGov. The survey (linked below) found that healthcare executives increasingly view laboratory services as strategic contributors to both patient care and organizational performance. Among its most notable findings:
- 82% of healthcare executives considered expanding laboratory services during the past year.
- 81% strongly agreed that laboratory turnaround times directly impact patient care.
- 72% strongly agreed that laboratory performance is critical to overall operational efficiency.
- 84% believe aging laboratory equipment poses a risk to their organizations.
- 54% identified laboratory equipment and diagnostics as a priority for technology investment, second only to AI-enabled clinical technologies.
Perhaps most encouraging for laboratory leaders, Michele Zwickl, Head of Laboratory Solutions for Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers North America, noted that laboratory professionals are earning "a seat at the table" as healthcare organizations make strategic investment and modernization decisions.
This growing executive support presents an important opportunity, but only for laboratories prepared to capitalize on it.
Read Survey: Healthcare Executives Signal Growing Strategic Value of Laboratory Services, Siemens Healthineers Survey Finds
Modernization Requires More Than New Instruments
While new analyzers and diagnostic equipment remain essential investments, laboratory modernization extends far beyond the replacement of instrumentation.
Today's laboratories face expanding operational challenges, including workforce shortages, increasing specimen volumes, growing diagnostic complexity, evolving regulatory requirements, and ongoing payment uncertainty. Successfully navigating these demands requires a modern technology foundation that supports every aspect of laboratory operations.
That foundation is a modern laboratory information system (LIS).
Industry Insights: Best LIS Systems - Top Laboratory Information Systems Compared for Clinical, Pathology, and Outreach Labs
Your Laboratory Information System Determines Your Laboratory's Future
The laboratory information system has evolved from a specimen tracking application into the operational backbone of the modern laboratory.
Today's best laboratory information system software manages far more than accessioning and reporting. It orchestrates the complete diagnostic workflow, connecting people, departments, instruments, data, financial operations, and external healthcare systems into a unified environment.
A future-ready lab information system should support:
- Comprehensive laboratory workflow management
- Multi-specialty laboratory operations
- Laboratory automation
- AI-assisted workflows
- Digital pathology integration
- Advanced analytics and dashboards
- Client connectivity
- Patient engagement
- EHR interoperability
- Embedded laboratory revenue cycle management
- Laboratory billing automation
- Compliance and quality management
Without these capabilities, laboratories often struggle with disconnected systems, duplicate data entry, manual processes, delayed reimbursement, and limited operational visibility.
Discover More: Why Modern Labs Must Move Beyond Manual Workflows and Legacy LIS Systems
AI and Digital Pathology Are Raising the Technology Bar
The same survey found healthcare executives prioritizing AI-enabled technologies more than any other category of investment.
That should come as no surprise.
Artificial intelligence is already helping laboratories:
- Automate requisition processing
- Improve data quality
- Reduce manual data entry
- Optimize workflow routing
- Prioritize work queues
- Identify operational bottlenecks
- Enhance quality management
- Support predictive analytics
Industry Insights: Healthcare AI Has Crossed the Line From Experiment to Infrastructure
Digital pathology is creating a similar transformation.
Modern pathology workflows increasingly depend on seamless integration between slide scanners, image management systems, AI algorithms, reporting tools, and the laboratory information system.
When these technologies operate independently, laboratories lose efficiency.
When they're fully integrated, pathologists gain immediate access to the right information, faster case review, streamlined collaboration, and improved turnaround times.
Discover More: LigoLab Expands Enterprise Tier with Pathologist Scheduling and Scheduled Reports
Laboratory Revenue Cycle Management Begins Long Before Billing
Another important modernization trend is the growing recognition that financial performance starts upstream.
Revenue integrity begins at:
- Order entry
- Patient registration
- Insurance verification
- Documentation
- Coding
- Specimen accessioning
- Workflow execution
Errors introduced during any of these steps frequently result in claim denials, payment delays, and unnecessary administrative work.
An integrated laboratory information system with embedded laboratory revenue cycle management (RCM) validates information throughout the diagnostic process, improving clean claim rates while reducing downstream corrections.
Rather than treating laboratory billing as a separate department, leading laboratories increasingly manage laboratory operations and financial performance through a unified informatics platform.
Discover More: Revenue Integrity Starts with Visibility - The Case for a Unified LIS and RCM Platform
Why Future-Ready Laboratories Choose Unified Platforms
As laboratory operations become more complex, managing multiple disconnected software applications becomes increasingly difficult.
Separate laboratory software systems often create information silos, duplicate work, and inconsistent data.
Rather than continuing to manage disconnected systems and fragmented data, forward-thinking laboratories are adopting unified informatics platforms that provide a single source of truth across clinical, operational, and financial workflows.
LigoLab: A Modern Laboratory Information System Built for What's Next
For laboratories seeking to establish a true single source of truth, the all-in-one LigoLab Informatics Platform delivers an enterprise-grade solution that unifies clinical, operational, and financial workflows. The platform combines:
- Comprehensive laboratory information system functions
- Integrated laboratory revenue cycle management
- Advanced automation
- AI-enabled integrations
- Digital pathology connectivity
- Dynamic analytics and reporting
- Client and patient engagement tools
- Enterprise interoperability
- Custom reporting designed to accommodate client-specific needs
The result is end-to-end data integrity that eliminates data silos, automates repetitive work, improves turnaround times, strengthens reimbursement performance, and continuously adapts as technology evolves.
Whether implementing AI-assisted requisition processing, expanding digital pathology initiatives, growing outreach services, or scaling into a multi-site enterprise, laboratories need an informatics platform built for long-term flexibility, not one that limits future innovation.
Discover More: How LigoLab's Pathology Lab Software Supports Lab Report Customization and Client Preferences
The Opportunity Is Here
Healthcare executives are sending a clear message: the future belongs to laboratories that embrace modernization, creating unprecedented opportunities for those ready to evolve.
Those still relying on legacy laboratory information systems, disconnected software applications, or manual workflows may find it increasingly difficult to compete as AI, digital pathology, automation, and enterprise interoperability become standard expectations.
The laboratories best positioned for future success will be those that invest in a modern laboratory information system capable of connecting every department, every workflow, and every financial process into a unified operating platform.
Is Your Laboratory Ready to Modernize?
The future of laboratory medicine belongs to organizations that embrace connected, intelligent technologies. If you're ready to replace fragmented systems with a unified informatics platform, LigoLab is ready to help. Contact a product specialist.
Take Action: Speak with a Product Specialist!
Frequently Asked Questions About the Future of Healthcare and Laboratory Information System Software
Why is laboratory modernization becoming a priority?
Healthcare organizations are increasingly recognizing laboratories as strategic drivers of patient care, operational excellence, and financial performance. By modernizing their technology, laboratories can improve productivity, automate complex workflows, accelerate AI adoption, and expand diagnostic capabilities.
What should modern laboratory information system software include?
A modern medical LIS should provide comprehensive laboratory workflow management, automation, digital pathology integration, AI-enabled capabilities, interoperability, analytics, patient engagement tools, and integrated laboratory revenue cycle management.
Why is AI important for medical laboratories?
AI reduces manual work by automating document processing, improving accessioning accuracy, optimizing workflows, identifying operational bottlenecks, and supporting faster, more informed decision-making.
How does digital pathology affect laboratory information systems?
Digital pathology depends on tight integration between scanners, image management platforms, AI tools, and the LIS system. A modern laboratory information system streamlines these workflows and improves pathologist productivity.
Why should laboratory billing be integrated with the laboratory information system?
Embedding laboratory revenue cycle management within the LIS system helps validate patient, insurance, and coding information throughout the diagnostic workflow, improving clean claim rates, reducing denials, and providing real-time visibility into financial performance.
Reference
Today's Clinical Lab. Healthcare Executives Increasingly View Laboratories as Strategic Investments, Siemens Survey Finds. Article covering survey findings commissioned by Siemens Healthineers and conducted by YouGov, released during ADLM 2026.
