A manifesto for the future of laboratory medicine professionals

Abstract

Laboratory medicine plays an increasingly essential role in modern healthcare systems, since it is integral to most care pathways and plays an essential role for optimizing patient flow, harmonizing procedures before and after analysis, improving harmonization and containing unnecessary testing. Nevertheless, recent changes in the nature of laboratory services, promoted by innovation and introduction of more complex tests in emerging diagnostic fields, more advanced diagnostics along with other "internal" and "external" drivers, will promote a paradigmatic transformation of current scenarios. The future of laboratory professionals remains hence uncertain, and is seems obvious that the role and figure of laboratory scientists and professionals shall evolve. We are hence proposing this 10-point "manifesto", which is aimed to encourage a new vision of the future of this discipline and should help supporting the development of a new generation of laboratory professionals and leaders, who shall be able to integrate specific technical and administrative skills with a broader vision of health care and patients needs.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Laboratory medicine; Quality; Safety.