Turning Lab Pressure Into Performance: LigoVerse 2026 And What’s Next

As a company, LigoLab entered LigoVerse 2026 with a clear objective: deliver meaningful, practical value to you, our laboratory information system (LIS) and laboratory revenue cycle management (lab RCM) customers, so you can grow and thrive faster in 2026 and beyond.

I’m proud to say we achieved that goal. Once again, it reinforced a fundamental truth: in an environment defined by rising test volumes, workforce shortages, reimbursement uncertainty, and growing operational complexity, success depends on a comprehensive, flexible informatics platform paired with a hands-on partnership model that drives measurable efficiency and ROI.

Join me as I recap LigoVerse 2026 and take a forward-looking perspective on the year ahead, highlighting how LigoLab’s all-in-one platform continues to position you to compete, scale, and win in your markets.

The Reality Labs Are Facing Is Not Theoretical

Every pathology and clinical lab leader I speak with is navigating constant pressure that keeps growing:

• 1 in 5 histotechs will retire in the next 5 years
• Case complexity has risen 25-40%
• Pathology reimbursement has dropped ~20% over the last decade
• Expectations keep rising, from clinicians, patients, payers, and regulators

These aren’t isolated trends. They’re compounding forces. They’re pushing the traditional lab model, manual work, siloed systems, and limited data visibility to its breaking point.

As our loyal lab partners, you are the heartbeat of LigoVerse, and we deeply respect the responsibility you carry. Our job is to remove friction around that responsibility so that you can spend more time on judgment, quality, and care, and less time on rework, follow-ups, and busywork.

Discover More: Boosting Operational Efficiency - How LigoLab Transforms Laboratory Workflows

The Industry Is Changing, And “Doing Nothing” Is The Real Risk

What’s changing isn’t your commitment or your standards. What’s changing is the environment.

The old approach, layering more people and more tools, doesn’t scale anymore:

• Fragmented systems create drag
• Automation is no longer optional

And the risk of doing nothing isn’t falling behind on tech. It’s burning out good people while margins keep shrinking.

The labs that win over the next decade will be the ones that turn complexity into highly efficient systems and activate the data they already generate every day.

Industry Insights: A New Year, A New Foundation - Why Now is the Perfect Time to Modernize Your Laboratory Information System

From System Of Record To System Of Action

For years, the legacy laboratory information system has functioned primarily as a system of record: a digital archive for results and documentation.

That foundation still matters. But it is no longer sufficient.

LigoLab was built on a simple belief:

A lab information system shouldn’t just record what happened. It should actively help you run better tomorrow than you did today.

That’s what we mean by a system of action.

Not just storing data, but actively reducing work, improving outcomes, orchestrating tasks, predicting bottlenecks, surfacing risk, and guiding staff.

And in 2026, AI becomes the intelligence layer that turns the LIS system from a passive archive into an active operational engine. Not to replace people, but to replace repetition.

Discover More: Best Practices for Preparing Medical Labs for AI Integration in Technical and Financial Operations

Your Lab Is Already A Data Factory, AI Helps You Activate It

Every lab is producing an enormous amount of valuable data:

• Orders, results, QC, audit trails, and images in the LIS
• Instrument interfaces streaming operational data
• Whole slide imaging
• Pathologist sign-out patterns and amendments
• RCM and denial data downstream

Most labs already have enough data to run smarter, but it’s locked in the LIS system, laboratory billing software, instruments, and spreadsheets. Human teams become “query engines” and “workflow routers” all day.

And the truth is simple:

You have a ton of data, but not enough time to make the most of it.

The challenge is not a lack of data. The challenge is activating it. AI helps by interpreting patterns, supporting workflows, and taking the first pass on work that would otherwise fall entirely on humans.

Get Insight: How to Prepare for Tomorrow’s Tech-Enabled Clinical Lab

AI As Digital Labor, Not A Buzzword

At LigoVerse, we took a practical, workflow-driven look at how AI is being applied across the anatomic pathology and clinical laboratory lifecycle, showcasing real use cases already operating in partner labs, or launching soon, all fully integrated within the LigoLab platform.

This means LigoLab’s AI strategy is no longer conceptual; it is actively reshaping the laboratory ecosystem. What began as a powerful LIS lab solution is evolving into an intelligent informatics platform that empowers laboratories to shift from reactive oversight to proactive, data-driven performance.

This transformation is deliberate and phased. Each capability delivers measurable value today while laying the groundwork for broader clinical, operational, and financial impact tomorrow.

Below is how that evolution is unfolding:

Analysis & Imaging - Available in the Marketplace

AI-powered virtual staining reduces material usage and associated costs, while automated image quantification and intelligent pre-screening streamline review workflows and enhance diagnostic efficiency.

Workflow Optimization - Live in Production

AI supports balanced case distribution to optimize pathologist workload and enables hands-free result entry, reducing clicks and improving turnaround time.

Specimen & Order Processing - Live in Production

Paper requisitions are automatically converted into structured digital orders with OCR technology. AI-driven measurement and annotation tools standardize specimen documentation and reduce variability at accessioning and grossing.

Quality & Consistency - In Beta

An AI-powered assistant reviews reports before sign-out, flagging inconsistencies and clarity gaps to strengthen accuracy and standardization.

Revenue Cycle Automation - Q2 2026

AI-assisted coding, preliminary interpretation generation, and predictive denial scoring enhance laboratory billing precision, reduce rework, and improve revenue integrity.

Intelligence & Analytics - Q2 2026

Conversational, natural-language analytics enable laboratory teams to interact directly with their data, unlocking real-time operational and financial insights that support faster, smarter decision-making.

Together, these advancements reflect a comprehensive AI roadmap focused on embedding digital labor directly into everyday workflows, reducing friction, strengthening quality, and protecting margins.

On-Demand Webinar: From LIS Systems of Record to LIS Systems of Action

What Partnership With LigoLab Looks Like In The Real World

When we talk about “winning strategy,” it’s not abstract. It’s the lived experience of our customers, which was a major theme across the LigoVerse agenda, from the opening keynote to hands-on workshops to peer exchange.

Partnership with LigoLab means:

• Fewer manual steps
• More visibility
• Less firefighting
• Better use of your team’s time
• A single source of truth across technical + financial operations

Our goal isn’t to change how you practice medicine. Our goal is to remove the friction around it.

Discover More: Leveraging LigoLab for Optimal Return on Investment - An LIS System Guide for Lab Directors

LigoVerse 2026: The Moments That Mattered

Over two packed days, we focused on what’s working, what’s coming, and what labs need next.

Day 1: Vision, Community, And The Big Picture

We opened with a clear theme mentioned earlier: Moving from a system of record to a system of action.

From there, we highlighted customer success stories and held an industry-facing discussion on where diagnostics is headed, AI, regulation, and reimbursement realities, alongside partners and leaders shaping the future.

We also dug into the financial engine of our partners with a session dedicated to laboratory billing, because operational excellence without revenue integrity is not a strategy; it’s a vulnerability.

The day ended the right way: continuing conversations outside the conference room and at an NHL hockey game, building real relationships, and remembering that community is a competitive advantage.

Day 2: Hands-On, Practical Learning, And Peer Exchange

Day two was built for operators.

Customers dove deep into configuration and workflow enablement, permissions, queues, enhancements, AI-powered optical character recognition (OCR) for order entry, scheduled reporting, auto case distribution, peer review, and voice-enabled workflows.

Then came what I personally value most: peer exchange as labs shared what they’ve learned, because best practices travel faster when customers teach each other.

We closed with a forward-looking discussion on what’s next, what’s needed, and how we build it together.

Editor’s Note: If you missed out on LigoVerse 2026 and want to reserve your spot for next year’s event, contact Jenny Bull (Jenny@LigoLab.com).

Get Insight: Navigating the Future of Pathology - The LigoLab Advantage

Looking Forward: The 2026 Strategy

Here’s what we’re driving in 2026, because the moment demands it.

1) Build The Lab’s Informatics Platform, And Digital Labor Infrastructure

Staffing shortages and margin compression are not temporary. The “silver tsunami” of retirements and persistent vacancy rates are both forcing a structural change.

Legacy laboratory information systems make this worse by keeping work manual, fragmented, and difficult to automate.

Our strategy is to be the single informatics platform labs rely on, one comprehensive, flexible, automated, interoperable lab information system across technical and financial workflows.

2) Embed AI Where It Creates Measurable Outcomes

At LigoLab, AI isn’t a bolt-on feature or an experiment.

Every capability must improve at least one measurable needle:

• Turnaround time
• Accuracy and error reduction
• Labor efficiency
• Revenue integrity
• Clinical confidence

If it doesn’t move outcomes, it doesn’t ship.

3) Keep The Company, And The Product, Nimble Through Culture

Passion. Kaizen. Teamwork. Ownership. Leapfrogging. This is our culture, and that’s how we keep engaging with our customers and delivering 30-40 meaningful improvements every month.

The greatest risk is stagnation, and labs don’t have time for LIS software vendors who move slowly.

Get Insight: Why “The Safe Move” to a New Version of Legacy LIS Software Is the Wrong Move for Medical Labs

Why This Winning Strategy Benefits Customers

In a market where many laboratory information system vendors are sunsetting products, nickel-and-diming changes, and forcing labs into expensive migrations, our LIS model is different:

• Unified LIS + RCM to remove handoffs and unlock end-to-end automation
• Flexible configurability so your workflows don’t get trapped in rigid software
• Partnership pricing and risk alignment, because we prosper when you prosper
• A true LIS system of action that improves collections and reduces denials
• Continuous innovation that keeps you future-ready instead of upgrade-stuck

Labs don’t just choose LigoLab because it’s modern. They choose it because it makes them more capable, operationally, financially, and clinically, without adding complexity.

Closing: Build The Future Together

LigoVerse 2026 reaffirmed that the future of diagnostics belongs to laboratories that transform complexity into intelligent, scalable systems, without ever compromising quality, compliance, or the people who make it all possible.

LigoVerse exists to foster that kind of progress. It’s where we exchange ideas, surface what’s working, and collaborate on what needs to evolve next. If something isn’t delivering the value it should, we want to hear it. If there’s an opportunity to make it better, we’re committed to building it together.

Thank you for being the kind of customer who not only partners with us, but also challenges us with real-world insight. That transparency is what drives meaningful innovation.

Ready to partner with LigoLab and transform complexity into a competitive advantage?

If you’re ready, let’s continue the conversation.

Schedule a strategy session with our team to explore how LigoLab’s all-in-one informatics platform can help you achieve your 2026 and beyond goals. 

Don’t Wait: Speak with a LigoLab Product Specialist!