While manual light microscopic examination is the gold standard for examining peripheral blood cells, it is time consuming, labor intensive, and requires highly experienced, well-trained laboratory staff. 1 Physical fatigue, relatively large interobserver variability, inability to compare cells and to review previous work are cited as limitations in using this method. 2, 3

Why addressing laboratory staffing shortages is critical?

• At the core of patient care, laboratory testing affects approximately 70% of all subsequent treatment decisions. 4 
• Roughly 14 billion clinical laboratory tests are performed every year in the U.S 5

Although this accounts for only 2.3 percent of U.S. healthcare expenditures 5, the high percentage of medical decision making that is reliant on laboratory results 6 demonstrates their essential role in patient care.

Medical laboratories have experienced clinical laboratory staffing and workforce shortages and increased vacancies for several years, due to retirements, a lack of qualified laboratory personnel including medical technologist shortage, and the limited number of laboratory training programs. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified and exacerbated these shortages and vacancies at a time when there was a massive increase in laboratory testing volumes. 

The need for laboratory professionals is expected to grow by 11% between 2020 and 2030, a higher rate of growth than the overall average for all other health care occupations. 7   

Hiring and retaining new trained staff is challenging and many hematologists are reaching retirement age, adding to the demand for trained staff.

The 2022 American Society for Clinical Pathology vacancy survey of medical laboratories demonstrated: 

• A 16.6% vacancy rate for the hematology/coagulation sector
• Total hematology laboratory staffing vacancy rates of 17%.
•  An anticipated 16.7% overall retirement rate in hematology in the next 5 years.
• An anticipated 24.7% retirement rate for supervisors and those in senior positions
• An average of 7-12 months to hire new hematology staff
• Difficulty in filling evening, weekend and overtime shifts
• 70% of the staff in hematology laboratories require certification as medical technologists and represent the highest rate of certified staff among all laboratory sectors.  8

The demand for adult hematologists in the United States is set to exceed the existing number of trained personnel. 9 

Educational programs are also impacted by retirement, with more than a third of Program Directors for clinical laboratory science education set to retire in the next five years. 10 

The profession is educating less than half of the number of laboratory staffing professionals needed, with enrolment and graduation of medical laboratory professionals not keeping up with the rapidly rising demand. This is further exacerbated by the merging of hematology academic programmes with oncology fellowships, resulting in less focus on non-malignant hematology as a separate, sustainable discipline. 10 

There is a critical need to retain laboratory professionals currently working in the field. 11

Digital platforms capable of analyzing thousands of samples per day have driven the automation of the manual morphological analysis of blood cells. There is no doubt that remote digital system review will be extended to most laboratories, including public institutions. 1 As laboratory technology continues to advance, millennials are perfectly positioned for the laboratory of the future. 12 

How can hematology technology offset staff shortages?

Digital image technology can facilitate a variety of essential job functions in clinical hematology  3

and can help to alleviate clinical and medical technologist laboratory staffing shortages. Using artificial intelligence algorithms to pre-classify cells, digital image analysis enables faster slide reviews. 2  Digital image analyzers provide numerous benefits, such as less severe eye strain and fatigue and time optimization. 3  Images can be transferred rapidly from remote networked laboratories to a central laboratory for review, facilitating consultations with medical laboratory professionals, thus in part addressing the skills shortage. 2, 3

Scopio Labs, a company dedicated to transforming patient care, is pioneering full-field digital cell morphology, enabling dramatically faster, earlier, and more accurate detection and diagnosis of blood cancers, anemia, infections and other hematological conditions.

Want to learn more? Schedule a demo and get in touch with our team.

References:

1. Da Costa L. Digital image analysis of blood cells. Clin Lab Med. 2015;35(1):105-122. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2014.10.005
2. Kratz A, Lee SH, Zini G, Riedl JA, Hur M, Machin S; International Council for Standardization in Haematology. Digital morphology analyzers in hematology: ICSH review and recommendations. Int J Lab Hematol. 2019;41(4):437-447. doi: 10.1111/ijlh.13042
3. VanVranken SJ, Patterson ES, Rudmann SV, Waller KV. A survey study of benefits and limitations of using CellaVision DM96 for peripheral blood differentials. Clin Lab Sci. 2014;27(1):32-9. PMID: 24669444
4. Forsman RW. Why is the laboratory an afterthought for managed care organizations? Clin Chem 1996;42(5): 813-8716. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8653920/ 
5. Strengthening Clinical Laboratories. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. November 15, 2018. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/csels/dls/strengthening-clinical-labs.html . Accessed 12 December, 2024  
6. AACC. Laboratory medicine: Advancing quality in patient care. Available from: https://www.aacc.org/advocacy-andoutreach/aacc-policy-reports/2015/laboratory-medicine-advancing-quality-in-patient-care. Accessed 12 December, 2024.
7. Leber AL, Peterson E, Bard JD. The Hidden Crisis in the Times of COVID-19: Critical Shortages of Medical Laboratory Professionals in Clinical Microbiology.J Clin Microbiol 2022;60(8): e0024122.doi: 10.1128/jcm.00241-22.
8. Garcia E, Kundu I, Kelley M, Soles R. The American Society for Clinical Pathology 2022 Vacancy Survey of medical laboratories in the United States. Am J Clin Pathol March2024; 161:289-304. Available at:
   HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.1093/AJCP/AQAD149 Accessed December 2024.
9. Sharma D, Wallace N, Levinsohn EA, Marshall AL, Kayoumi K, Madero J, et al. Trends and factors affecting the US adult hematology workforce: a mixed methods study. Blood Adv. 2019;3(22):3550-3561. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000307
10. Wallace PJ, Connell NT, Abkowitz JL. The role of hematologists in a changing United States health care system. Blood. 2015;125(16):2467-70. doi: 10.1182/blood-2014-12-615047
11. The American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science. Addressing the Clinical Laboratory Workforce Shortage. Available from https://ascls.org/addressing-the-clinical-laboratory-workforce-shortage/ [Accessed 13 July 2021]
12. Garcia E, Kundu I, Ali A, Soles R. The American Society for Clinical Pathology’s 2016-2017 Vacancy Survey of Medical Laboratories in the United States. Am J Clin Pathol. 2018;149(5):387-400. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/aqy005