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Future of medical labs in post-pandemic world

The COVID-19 pandemic has not only changed the way we live and work, but has also brought in paradigm shift in healthcare industry. It not only has brought in new normal, but has also brought several new changes at mcid boggling pace. As said by Winston Churchill during Second World War, never waste a good crisis, medical establishments went in complete overhaul of the existing systems. To talk specifically about medical labs, which traditionally worked behind the scene, are suddenly in the driver’s seat. The RT-PCR, CRP, D-DIMER, etc., were speaking in the same breath as was COVID in common parlance. The medical labs are actually living with the key message of test, test, and test, given by WHO director general during his opening remark during media briefing on COVID-19 on March 16, 2020. It would not be an exaggeration to say “medical labs have finally found a place under the sun” from being a mere supporting arm in clinical care. This new-found attention for diagnostics industry has brought in agility in the development of new technologies especially in the area of COVID-19 diagnosis. The industry has suddenly been found itself engaged in healthy competition for developing better and sensitive tests with shorter turnaround times.

In 2020, the total net worth of global diagnostic industry was USD 200.3 billion. It is predicted to expand at a phenomenal compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7 percent. The major expansion seen in lab automation solutions has undergone major shift and promises to continue to be an important force in the changing laboratory marketplace. Dr Masahide Sasaki at the Kochi Medical School Laboratory (Japan) in early 1980s was credited with the development of lab automation concept. Total lab automations or commonly called track system will be major traction in and will continue to attract high demand for lab automation in clinical diagnostics, and will likely be the growth drivers of this burgeoning industry.

Like many other areas of healthcare delivery, laboratory services are experiencing an IT revolution and are currently a part of burgeoning MedTech industry. Artificial Intelligence (AI) along with machine learning is the talk of the town. Currently, AI is being used in diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic but medical diagnostics is the area where it is being used majorly. AI applications collect and synthesize clinical data, then compare it to predefined categories to aid in diagnosis and treatment. This development has helped in expansion of the use of novel and innovative AI approaches to medical diagnoses and will enable a streamlined high-quality healthcare delivery process, with no intention of replacing humans.

Telemedicine, including telepathology via remote interfacing, will become the new normal and will penetrate all the Tier-II and Tier-III towns and villages. By getting improved, high-speed networks under national digital health mission will hasten the process many folds. This in turn will improve the accessibility of healthcare and will tremendously improve the health of its citizens living in the far-flung areas.

The Internet of Things (IoT), with its associated wearable technology, was already at the forefront of fitness industry, with Apple watches and our own GOQII spearheading this movement. This very pace of innovations is further accelerated by COVID-19 with addition of partial pressure of oxygen (SpO2) (another buzz word in the lingo of COVID-19) monitoring for its users. The realm of SpO2, has suddenly shifted from ICU monitoring to our rooms, and has become part of our daily lives. The wearable healthcare technology market is surging, and its advancement will put more wearable technology in the hands of consumers and businesses.

Clinical laboratories lie at the cusp of tectonic shift in the history of diagnostics industry during these tumultuous times and will usher in the new age of increasing efficiencies, reduction in errors, and new enabling technologies with improved quality in the deliverance of healthcare services. The COVID-19 pandemic serves as a stark reminder that proactive planning for healthcare emergencies as well as an intensified commitment to global public health preparedness remains necessary. The healthcare world, as we know it, is going to change and medical labs will be at the top of leader board position in the league of these ever-increasing extraordinary technological advancements.

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