Laboratory medicine, which plays an integral role in health care, is handicapped by overuse, underuse, and misuse of services; poor communication and coordination; and inefficiency. Labs can generate valuable data to help correct these problems by virtue of numerous scientific and technological breakthroughs that enable early detection of disease and better management of medical conditions.

This report provides an overview of today's laboratory medicine sector and the economic, regulatory, workplace, technological, and other factors that are shaping it. The report looks at the following issues:

• The expanding, consolidating, and highly competitive market for diagnostic tests, especially new genetic and molecular assays;
• Inconsistent reimbursement policies;
• Challenges related to testing standards, the qualifications and availability of lab personnel, and regulation of cutting-edge tests; and
• How technological advances, along with cost-effectiveness analyses and comparative effectiveness research are altering the testing landscape.

Laboratory medicine will play an ever greater role in repairing the fractured health care system as stakeholders increasingly demand scientific evidence for clinical decision-making and strategies to address care quality, outcomes, and cost.

The complete report is available under Document Downloads.