Fascinating Medical Laboratory Industry Statistics

Keep reading to explore medical lab statistics. If you’re curious about the latest marketing trends to promote your lab, speak with a WebFX digital marketing expert.

Market size

Medical laboratory services is a billion-dollar industry that will continue to grow. An aging population, increasing demand for early diagnosis of chronic diseases, and advancements in laboratory technology will propel the market forward.

Check out these stats:

• In 2022, the U.S. laboratory market was worth $93 billion.
• The country had more than 319,000 laboratories certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments in 2022.
• By 2030, the in-office lab market will grow to over $18 billion.
• In 2022, the global clinical laboratory service market was valued at over $217 billion.
• Researchers predict the market will be worth over 280 billion by 2030.
• North America dominates the market, but the Asia Pacific region is growing fast.

Medical laboratory services

Medical laboratory services are vital to preventing diseases, diagnosing patients, and implementing treatments. The following statistics illustrate the importance of clinical labs in patient care:

• Roughly 60% to 80% of medical decisions are based on lab test results.
• Each year, U.S. healthcare providers order over 14 billion lab tests.
• Blood tests and other lab tests used for patient care are the most common health services in the country.
• More specifically, lipid, metabolic, complete blood count, and urinalysis are among the most common labs.
• In 2022, the most in-demand direct-to-consumer lab test was genetic testing.
• Over 3,000 new genetic tests were introduced in the U.S. in 2022.

Medical lab workforce

Laboratory jobs are in high demand, and they’ll continue to be critical as the older population grows and current lab employees leave the workforce. Consider the following stats:

• In 2022, there were about 342,900 clinical lab technicians and technologists.
• Most lab technicians work in hospitals.
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts employment of clinical laboratory technicians will grow 5% over the next decade, which is faster than average.
• Roughly 24,000 lab tech jobs will open per year until 2032.
• Almost half of laboratory managers plan to prioritize investing in technology to counter a labor shortage.
• Eighty-five percent of medical labs anticipate challenges in staffing over the next few years.
• Most clinical lab professionals stay in their positions for 18 years on average.
• Almost 63% of lab professionals are satisfied with their careers, and most enjoy their work and recognize its importance.

Medical laboratory: budgets and purchasing

Are you wondering how today’s labs spend their budgets? Check out these stats from the 2022 Lab Manager Purchasing Trends Survey:

• Half of the survey’s respondents said their budget has increased.
• Seventy-seven percent of lab managers say it’s very important to consider long-term efficiency and pricing when purchasing new lab technology.
• They also say ongoing customer support and warranty are very important.
• Twenty-six percent of lab managers strongly agree that their lab is one of the most innovative, while 47% somewhat agree.
• Nineteen percent strongly agree that their lab is one of the first to implement new technology.

Medical lab technology

With rising healthcare and labor expenses, clinical labs use technology to reduce operational costs. Innovations in the health lab industry increase efficiency, decrease overall costs, and improve accuracy. Consider the following stats:

• The demand for point-of-care testing, such as bedside blood glucose testing, is increasing due to rapid turnarounds.
• Labs increasingly embrace artificial intelligence (AI) to rapidly analyze data, inform diagnostic decisions, and optimize workflows.
• AI-powered digital cell morphology technology is a rising trend in pathology labs, used to automate time-consuming manual tasks.
• In a global survey, experts strongly agree AI will improve diagnostic accuracy, and labs will commonly use AI for specific applications by 2030.
• Researchers predict greater use of liquid biopsies to detect early-stage cancer over the next decade.
• More labs worldwide use 3D printing to speed up processes, like manufacturing microfluidic devices.
• Fused deposition modeling is the most widely used form of 3D printing in labs.
• Most medical labs, or 73%, still use in-house servers over cloud-based laboratory information system (LIS) platforms.
• Almost 50% of labs use data analytics in some form, and 69% say data analytics tools are built into their LIS.
• Seventy-two percent of labs use data analytics to measure turnaround times, and over half use these tools to track cost per test.

Medical laboratory marketing

Like any business, a health lab can implement marketing strategies to expand its reach, stay competitive, and achieve its goals. A marketing strategy is a custom plan for gaining customers and maintaining relationships. It can include many different methods, like setting up a blog, advertising through online channels, or connecting with a target audience through social media.

To inspire your lab’s marketing campaign, check out the following stats:

• Businesses with blogs are more than 10 times more likely to see a positive return on investment.
• Ninety-five percent of healthcare organizations use or plan to use content marketing, like blogs.
• Almost a third of marketers depend on content marketing to increase brand awareness.
• Google sees 70,000 health-related searches every minute, every day.
• For every dollar a company spends on Google Ads, it can earn eight.
• The average conversion rate of Google Ads is 75%.

Ready to grow your medical laboratory?

Do you feel excited to promote your medical, clinical, or health lab after reading our marketing stats? We’d love to be your lab’s marketing partner.

WebFX is a full-service digital marketing agency with over 25 years of experience. We use data-backed methods to drive revenue for our clients and can’t wait to develop a personalized marketing strategy for your lab.

Call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist, or request your free quote.

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