The World Laboratory Market is $108.5 Billion Market and Growing

Print 30 March 2017
Kalorama Information

Rockville (MD), March 24, 2017 — The global market for clinical laboratory services reached $108.5 billion for 2016, according to a new report from Kalorama Information. In addition to diagnosing patients, medical lab testing is performed to evaluate disease progression, monitor drug treatment and conditions, and determine individual therapy, among other reasons. The healthcare market research firm’s report, Clinical Laboratory Services Market, provides an overview of the medical laboratory industry and the trends driving growth.

Clinical laboratories are an essential part of the health industry, as it is estimated that approximately 80% of physicians’ diagnoses are a result of laboratory tests. The United States is one of the more recent examples of implementing a pay-for-performance and value-based care system, linking performance and outcomes to payment in an attempt to reduce healthcare spending. Overall, the goal is to deliver more care, more efficiently, to more people at a lower cost per person.

"When there’s cost cutting elsewhere in healthcare, you see the laboratory become more useful. " said Bruce Carlson, Publisher of Kalorama Information. "It doesn’t mean governments and payors won’t come up with schemes to reduce lab bills, but in terms of utilization, there is a shift in healthcare utilization, primarily due to a desire to reduce healthcare spending, which makes the laboratory an even more valuable part of the treatment plan.”

Most regions of the world focus on maintaining health delivery standards but also strive to implement cost-cutting measures.

Most laboratory tests are considered routine, performed by broadly trained professionals and often returned to the ordering physician within hours. Routine testing is necessary in assisting medical professionals with diagnoses of disease, confirmation of a medical condition, or in preventive care. These tests are done on a regular basis. Common routine tests include complete blood counts (CBC) and cholesterol levels testing.

Specialty testing requires the expertise of trained laboratory technologists, intricate equipment, and special materials or supplies. These tests are typically performed less often than routine tests and run in combination with higher prices. In order to provide groundbreaking diagnostics, large laboratory companies often partner with or acquire specialized testing companies to offer advanced testing technologies. Tests included in specialty testing are typically categorized in segments such as endocrinology, immunology, and serology.

Changes in the hospital segment of the healthcare industry have a great influence on the clinical laboratory business. This segment currently accounts a large share of revenues for medical laboratories in the United States.

In effort to reduce health-related costs, hospitals have been striving to reduce length of stays in the United States, currently reported at an average of 4.6 days. To continue to try and keep stays at a minimum and ultimately reduce cost, monitoring technologies, diagnostic imaging and laboratory measures, and disease/treatment monitoring through diagnostic laboratory practices are primary ways physicians and administrators are continuing to meet optimal healthcare outcomes while also reduce costs.

About Kalorama Information

Kalorama Information, a division of MarketResearch.com, supplies the latest in independent medical market research in diagnostics, biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and healthcare; as well as a full range of custom research services. 

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