We may not feel completely ready for it, but after attending this month’s Canadian Diagnostic Executive Forum (CDEF), I can tell you the future of lab medicine and diagnostics is unfolding before our eyes. Speaker after speaker – DI and lab directors, COOs, Chiefs of Lab Medicine, and executives from across the healthcare spectrum – confirmed that being a leader in this field means embracing technology, AI and data.
As Sean Campbell, CMEPP’s Western Canada Relationship Executive observed, “Data is the new oil.”
This year’s CDEF had a markedly different feeling from the one two years ago when we were still in the Covid cocoon. Testing labs were struggling with how to cope with test volumes way above capacity and still deliver patient-centred care.
Today we’re living with a new reality – high workloads are still here but technology has permanently transformed the way lab and diagnostic services are delivered. If I could sum it up in one word: fast. As we heard from a CEO panel, the demand for healthcare services is insatiable and requires a fast response. The message was clear – we have to do things differently and throwing money at the problem is not the only solution.
This is where things got interesting – I was dazzled by the many creative and effective ways organizations are applying technology to bridging the gaps in DI and Lab medicine:
- Futurist Zayna Khayat described how AI applications in diagnostics can now detect cancer and using a scan of the eye, screen for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Shairoz Kherani described how Halton Healthcare, one of our Participant hospitals, is using drones to move lab samples between sites, a faster and more efficient system.
- How robotic technology is automating labs, freeing up people to do more value-added work.
I’m confident we’re moving in the right direction but hold on to your hat – we’re just getting started.
Thank you Kevin Orr and In Common Laboratories for an exciting and thought-provoking conference – looking forward to 2026!
~ Nils Clausen, CMEPP CEO
