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How Laboratory Information Systems Help Lab Operators Overcome Industry-Wide Staffing Shortages
September 3, 2026
Clinical labs and pathology groups are processing a growing volume of patient samples, forcing lab directors and managers to improve laboratory workflow management to keep pace with the surge in cases. This growing pressure to deliver is happening alongside widespread staffing shortages, including a seriously shrinking pool of medical laboratory technicians.
Modern medical laboratories rely on a multitude of internal clinical laboratory management and pathology lab management workflow processes to run smoothly, including:
- Sample tracking management
- Patient data management
- Instrument integration
- Inventory audits
- Clinical report generation
- Quality assurance
- Compliance verification
The complexity and scale of operations required to run a successful facility demand sophisticated medical laboratory solutions. One such solution is the modern laboratory information system (LIS).
Industry Insights: Best LIS Systems - Top Laboratory Information Systems Compared for Clinical, Pathology, and Outreach Labs
What is LIS in Healthcare?
The COVID-19 pandemic forced healthcare organizations to rethink resource allocation and patient care, often out of necessity. For medical laboratories suddenly processing thousands of additional samples each day, adapting quickly with new workflows, technologies, and operational strategies became essential. Lab directors and managers sought immediate clinical and pathology management software solutions to help them handle the massive increase in volume. For example, they automated many lab processes to improve turnaround times and minimize processing errors.
Most LIS software solutions sold by traditional lab vendors support basic automation and digitization across the specimen lifecycle, including sample registration, tracking through analysis and processing, and report generation. While these capabilities represent important progress, they often stop short of delivering the advanced pathology and clinical lab workflow orchestration and automation modern laboratories now require.
Most legacy, off-the-shelf laboratory information systems lack the flexibility and depth needed to support today's complex clinical and pathology workflows, real-time analytics, and integrated financial processes. As healthcare continues to evolve rapidly, driven by regulatory pressure, reimbursement complexity, staffing shortages, and increasing test sophistication, medical labs can no longer rely on rigid LIS systems designed for a different era.
To stay competitive and resilient, they must either adopt modern, adaptable laboratory information system software platforms that can meet these challenges head-on or risk falling behind as operational and financial strain intensifies.
Discover More: What You Need to Know Before Contracting with a Laboratory Information System (LIS) Company
High-Throughput Laboratory Performance Enabled by Modern LIS Medical Technology
A modern, advanced laboratory information system is essential for organizations that require high throughput without compromising accuracy or compliance. By streamlining workflows and replacing manual handoffs with automated, rules-driven processes, today’s healthcare LIS systems simplify processing, reduce errors, and support more consistent and reliable test results and laboratory reporting.
LigoLab exemplifies this approach with clinical and pathology lab reporting software built on the latest lab information system technology. The platform fully automates and integrates diverse laboratory workflows within a single, unified lab database software that combines modern laboratory information system functions with embedded laboratory billing and lab revenue cycle management. It also includes a direct-to-consumer lab testing web portal, further extending operational reach without introducing new data silos.
Together, these tightly integrated capabilities eliminate staff-intensive tasks across departments, reduce errors associated with manual processing at scale, and improve overall operational efficiency.
Designed to address the unique needs of each medical laboratory it serves, LigoLab partners closely with its customers to deliver a flexible, configurable, and highly adaptable LIS lab solution, establishing a distinct niche through its agile, bespoke approach to modern informatics.
Discover More: Comparing LigoLab Informatics Platform with Legacy Laboratory Information System Software
How to Address Staffing Shortages With Advanced Laboratory Information System Software
Laboratories nationwide are facing a growing shortage of qualified specialists and technologists, with some reporting dramatic increases in job vacancies. To stabilize operations, many labs are relying on traveling technologists, flexible staffing models, and cross-training existing employees to cover essential workflows.
These staffing shortages can constrain laboratory growth and revenue opportunities while forcing lab directors and managers to handle increasing workloads with fewer personnel.
To reduce pressure on limited staff, laboratories are increasingly turning to advanced laboratory information systems that automate routine processes and standardize workflows. Rules-driven automation across clinical, pathology, and laboratory billing workflows reduces manual intervention while supporting greater efficiency and consistency.
Advanced LIS software can also help laboratories identify workflow bottlenecks and automate time-consuming steps. Barcoding, for example, can streamline specimen registration and enable automated tracking throughout the testing lifecycle, reducing the staff resources required to manually monitor specimens from accessioning through final reporting.
By replacing repetitive manual tasks with configurable automation, modern LIS systems help laboratories optimize limited personnel, increase operational capacity, and support sustainable growth despite ongoing staffing challenges.
Industry Insights: The Rise and Fall of CoPath LIS - A Legacy Casualty of the Modern Lab Information System Era
The Best LIS Software: Key Laboratory Information System Functions
LigoLab's all-in-one Medical LIS & Lab RCM Informatics Platform offers comprehensive, advanced automation capabilities that provide visibility into every step of the lab workflow.
Real-Time Dashboards
Lab directors and managers can access real-time dashboards and widgets on the platform, enabling them to monitor lab workflow performance and immediately identify critical bottlenecks that impact a lab's efficiency.
When a lab workflow lags at any stage, dashboards and widgets can help lab directors and managers allocate more resources or configure efficient automation processes that improve throughput and minimize reliance on LIS lab personnel. Improved visibility and real-time monitoring enable laboratories to eliminate redundancy, pinpoint operational pain points, and manage resources more efficiently and proactively.
Interoperability
Further addressing gaps in most legacy laboratory information systems, LigoLab delivers an interoperable platform that supports interfacing with multiple lab and hospital modalities. The platform easily connects to lab billing software, electronic health record (EHR) systems, and other laboratory software applications and third-party services.
LigoLab's purpose-built interface engine creates a lab interface system within the platform known for its connectability. The engine electronically interfaces with an EHR system for in-and-out orders, creating an automated LIS software solution that reduces manual order entry and lab report delivery while helping mitigate staffing shortages.
Discover More: LigoLab Delivers the LIS System Interoperability Needed to Transform Medical Laboratories into Thriving Businesses
Barcoding and Sample Tracking
LigoLab is highly configurable. The platform features barcoding and sample tracking capabilities that enhance patient safety throughout the processing workflow. For example, LigoLab's LIS system module automatically generates just-in-time labels with unique identifiers for every sample.
Lab staffers can use the labels to track samples from start to finish. This automated lab sample management system minimizes manual processing errors and reduces reliance on lab staff.
Quality Assurance
Most clinical and pathology LIS systems integrate quality assurance (QA) to validate test results. These are flagged for review and verification. LigoLab enables an auto-verification process that scans results, validates them against an algorithm to ensure quality control, and automatically approves validated results for report generation.
When a set of results requires attention, the LIS system's auto-verification process routes them to a special queue and flags them for the technician's review.
This improves overall lab report quality and automates the process, eliminating redundant tasks and maximizing staff resources. Thus, auto-verification can mitigate insufficient staff resources.
Discover More: A Detailed Look at How Modern Laboratory Information Systems Fully Support Quality Control
Customized Lab Reports
In addition to creating an automated environment resilient to staff shortages, LigoLab's laboratory information system includes unlimited lab report customizations, enabling labs to use the report-building template engine to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Laboratories can tailor reports to the specific needs of clinicians, physicians, and patients by creating customizable templates that support images, inserts, diagrams, rich text, and configurable color schemes to improve clarity and usability.
After generation, users can configure the LIS software to distribute the lab report to the designated consulting physician or department via various channels, including electronic health records.
Discover More: How LigoLab's Pathology Lab Software Supports Lab Report Customization and Client Preferences
Compliance
LigoLab automates compliance verification at every stage, reducing audit risks and revenue losses by ensuring clinicians adhere to Good Laboratory Practices (e.g., CAP, CLIA, HIPAA). This saves staff time daily and reduces the time needed to prepare for inspections and audits.
Get Insight: Reducing Risk in the Modern Laboratory - A Comprehensive Approach
Extensive Customer Support
LigoLab supports the evolving needs of clinical laboratories and pathology groups with personalized customer support and comprehensive training focused on maximizing efficiency and automation.
The company’s integrated LIS system and laboratory billing platform are backed by in-depth training that empowers lab directors and managers to configure and customize workflows to meet their operational needs.
Responsive technical support further ensures that clinicians and laboratory staff have the guidance needed to maintain performance, resolve issues quickly, and operate confidently.
Learn More: Navigating the Future of Pathology - The LigoLab Advantage
Laboratory Revenue Cycle Management (lab RCM)
LigoLab's integrated LIS system and embedded laboratory revenue cycle management module create powerful opportunities for customers to expand revenue streams and scale efficiently.
Because both clinical and financial workflows operate on the same database and LIS software infrastructure, data silos are eliminated, and lab revenue cycle management (RCM) processes are integrated from the moment an order is created, an essential advantage for reducing denials and improving financial performance.
With real-time monitoring and validation applied at every stage of the lab billing lifecycle, errors are identified and corrected upstream rather than discovered after claims are submitted. This continuous "error scrubbing" significantly reduces downstream rework and denials.
LigoLab's automated, regulation-compliant lab revenue cycle management module requires minimal administrative intervention while providing full visibility into claims status, enabling laboratories to manage billing operations more efficiently and with greater confidence.
Digitally Transform and Grow with a Modern Laboratory Information System Solution
The unlimited interoperability and customization embedded in the LigoLab platform provide customers with unique opportunities to expand their labs' businesses despite industry-wide staff shortages.
Moreover, by incorporating a highly customized, automated lab workflow to deliver error-free reports, LigoLab's clinical laboratory management and pathology lab management solutions help medical labs retain customers (and attract new ones) as their test menus expand and their businesses grow.
On-Demand Webinar: Leverage LIS System Rules, Automation, and Data Analytics to Increase Efficiency and Cut Costs
Still Think All LIS Systems Are the Same?
"If a medical lab thinks laboratory information systems are commodities and all the same, it's in for a shock," said Suren Avunjian (LigoLab CEO since jointly founding the company in 2006).
See How an Advanced LIS System Can Transform Your Laboratory
Ready to experience the performance, control, and scalability an advanced LIS system can bring to your laboratory? Now is the time to contact LigoLab for a brief consultation and learn how a modern, all-in-one LIS platform can support your operational and financial goals.
Act Now: Connect with a LigoLab Product Specialist
Frequently Asked Questions About Laboratory Information Systems and Lab Staffing Shortages
How can a laboratory information system help address staffing shortages?
An advanced LIS software reduces dependence on manual tasks through automation, real-time dashboards, barcoding and sample tracking, and automated result verification, allowing fewer staff to manage a growing workload without sacrificing accuracy.
What are the limitations of many legacy or off-the-shelf LIS systems?
Legacy LIS systems often support only basic automation and digitization across the specimen lifecycle but lack the advanced workflow orchestration, real-time analytics, and integrated financial processes that modern, high-volume labs require.
How do real-time dashboards help lab directors manage staffing constraints?
Dashboards and widgets let lab directors immediately identify workflow bottlenecks, enabling them to reallocate resources or configure automation, rather than relying on additional staff to catch and resolve issues manually.
How does barcoding and sample tracking reduce staffing burden?
Automatically generated, just-in-time labels with unique identifiers enable end-to-end specimen tracking with minimal manual intervention, reducing processing errors and the staff resources needed to monitor specimen movement.
What is auto-verification, and how does it help with quality assurance?
Auto-verification scans test results and validates them against an algorithm, automatically approving passing results and routing only flagged results to a technician for review, reducing redundant manual QA work.
How does integrating medical LIS and lab billing help offset staffing shortages?
Because both LIS and lab revenue cycle management modules operate on the same database, RCM begins at order creation, enabling errors to be caught upstream through real-time validation rather than requiring additional administrative staff to rework denied claims later.
Why shouldn't labs assume all LIS systems are the same?
According to LigoLab CEO Suren Avunjian, labs that treat LIS systems as interchangeable commodities are often surprised by the meaningful differences in automation depth, interoperability, and support that separate modern platforms from legacy ones.
