A recent study found that 39% of more than 400 laboratory professionals surveyed believe staffing shortages are a stern obstacle to maintaining high standards of care.
A study by Siemens Healthineers and The Harris Poll offers a comprehensive look at the operational challenges faced by clinical laboratory staff, revealing that these professionals are struggling with severe burnout and that the majority of laboratory workers (83%) believe that demand for laboratory services will continue to grow.
While more than half (52%) said they were concerned that automation could put them out of work and 27% were concerned about losing their jobs due to up-to-date technology, the extensive majority (95%) said they believed automation would improve patient care.
Laboratory workers said they would employ the time saved by automation for training (46%), quality control (42%) and test sample management (39%).
Nearly nine in ten (89%) respondents said their labs need automation to meet demand, while 91% of lab workers surveyed agreed that AI tools can lend a hand solve patient care challenges.
Laboratory workers indicated that they know that burnout can cause errors ranging from minor administrative, documentation, or repeat test errors to more stern situations involving biohazard exposure or abnormal test results.
Fourteen percent of respondents admitted to making a high-risk error, while 22% admitted to making a low-risk error.
Almost a quarter (24%) of those surveyed said they had seen high-risk errors made by others, while 25% had seen low-risk errors. Another 29% had not made any errors but were worried about them because they were overworked.
Michele Zwickl, senior vice president of commercial laboratory solutions for Siemens Healthineers North America, said she was surprised by the percentage of lab professionals who believe automation is the solution.
“With lab job openings rising and a shortage of lab professionals to fill the gap, nearly all lab professionals agree that automation will be a necessary solution to help them address their most pressing challenges,” she said.
She added that using automation to reduce the burden of repetitive tasks is imperative not only to maintaining high-quality testing and allowing laboratory staff to focus on core operations, but also to ensure the safety and well-being of both patients and staff.
While the survey data showed that laboratories expect AI-integrated tools or technologies to grow the most in the next year (41%), fewer respondents believe the same for digital pathology/AI-based diagnostics (34%).
“We take seriously the fact that we operate in a safety-first industry that operates in a way that protects patients and keeps them safe. This requires additional lenses through which we can examine AI use cases,” Zwickl said.
She explained that each lab is structured differently, but generally speaking, to successfully integrate this technology, commitment is needed at all levels.
“From lab technicians and management to hospital management and procurement making financial decisions, there needs to be consistency at all levels,” she said.
From Zwickl’s perspective, the data clearly shows that automation and AI can lend a hand alleviate some of the most pressing challenges facing clinical laboratories today.
“Together, stakeholders can integrate this technology to increase laboratory efficiency and ultimately improve the quality of care for patients,” she added.