Rapid change has become a defining feature of pathology – but can this change power a new generation of laboratory software to shape the role of the clinical laboratory of the future?
It will come as no surprise to those in the clinical laboratory and pathology field that the market is undergoing rapid change. In recent decades health expectations have risen globally, with all member states of the World Health Organisation committed to working towards universal health coverage worldwide.
The proper scaling of pathology services is key to this growth, as pathology is involved in 70% of all healthcare diagnoses. If the pathology market follows the compound annual growth rate of 6.8% from 2014 to 2020 as predicted in a new study by market analysts Grand View Research1, then the global market for clinical laboratories is expected to reach US$149 billion by 2020.
Along with the rise of universal healthcare, other factors are driving change in the pathology market. These include an aging population and the rising prevalence of chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes. We are also seeing an upsurge of new testing methods to support initiatives such as personalized medicine, also known as genomic medicine, and point-of-care testing.
