Published: September 2025
Medically reviewed by:
Rebecca Rosenberger, MMSc, PA-C
Immunology laboratories are facing increasingly challenging circumstances — as rates of autoimmune diseases and allergies rise, so too does demand for their diagnostic testing services.
The incidence of autoimmune conditions is increasing by up to 19% a year, although the causes and mechanisms still aren’t fully understood.1 Allergy rates have also been rising for years, and allergic diseases now affect about 20% of the global population.2 In the U.S., roughly one in three adults and one in four children have a seasonal allergy, food allergy or eczema.3
Not only is the volume of laboratory tests growing, but symptoms of autoimmune diseases can be complex because they can overlap with other diseases and can be non-specific in the early stages. And there are a variety of different types of tests that can aid in diagnosis, including antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests, autoantibody tests, and comprehensive metabolic panels.4 Compounding these challenges are persistent staff shortages that have only worsened since COVID-19.5
What can laboratorians do to address these conditions? Gaining efficiency is the answer, and laboratories can do so by optimizing workflows to improve speed and accuracy but also to solve labor issues and create better workplace conditions.
Integrated solutions improve workflows
As any laboratorian knows, most clinical laboratories have multiple instruments for autoimmune and allergy testing. This means operators must be trained on varying test methods and different platforms can require different reagents and maintenance schedules. All of this adds time and complexity to clinical laboratories’ operations.
But with integrated solutions that can run autoimmune and allergy diagnostic tests, labs can increase their throughput while reducing costs, waste and manual labor. For example, the Phadia™ 250 instrument can run ImmunoCAP™ and EliA™ assays, which aid in the diagnosis of allergic conditions and autoimmune diseases, respectively.6
When clinical laboratories consolidate diagnostic testing equipment with solutions such as the Phadia 250 instrument or Phadia™ 1000 instrument, their operators only need to use one method for running laboratory tests, which can help save time, improve turnaround time, and increase accuracy.6 There are fewer screens to monitor, and lab staff can accomplish more without having to add headcount.
Having fewer instruments often saves on space — this can allow for repurposing or downsizing costly floor space or simply having fewer refrigerators because there are fewer reagents.6 Fewer instruments also can mean a reduction in waste and potentially less contracts to maintain.
With integrated solutions, immunology labs streamline every facet of their operations, from throughput to personnel to physical space. These laboratory automation efficiencies are the factors that will make a lab a key resource for healthcare providers (HCPs) and hospital systems, and they’ll set labs up for success as technology and testing needs continue to evolve.
Optimization for each individual lab
Workflow optimizations go beyond just the technology. Each clinical laboratory has its own individual conditions, spaces and opportunities to increase efficiency. To fully take advantage of the benefits of consolidation or expansion of testing capability, labs can partner with the Phadia™ Workflow Advisory Service, which goes beyond providing integrated solutions to assess how best to maximize each lab’s performance.
Workflow Advisory team members conduct quantitative analyses, such as measuring testing volume, labor hours, turnaround time, and square footage. They also conduct qualitative assessments through staff interviews to understand laboratories’ individual pain points and how workflow optimization can improve the working environment.
By maximizing space with consolidated equipment, for example, these evaluations can reduce walking distances for lab staff.6 They simplify lab footprints so that technicians don’t have to walk back and forth between multiple instruments and refrigerators. And cutting-edge technologies have intuitive interfaces and are more user-friendly than older models, all of which create a modernized, efficient workplace.
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Fully-automated closed immunoassay system
Still, change can be challenging, especially as fears grow about laboratory automation taking jobs. This is why training is so important — by providing tailored training and clear communications about the benefits of workflow optimization, clinical laboratories can address employee concerns up front. They can provide their staff with streamlined floorplans that incorporate cutting-edge technologies with more user-friendly and intuitive interfaces to create a modernized, efficient workplace. As employees benefit from optimized workflows and operations improve, it will be easier to show the ROI to senior leadership, like a laboratory director, and demonstrate tangible results.
Optimization in action: Geisinger Medical Center
Geisinger Medical Center is a 550-bed hospital in Danville, Pennsylvania, with a core clinical laboratory. In partnership with Phadia and Nexus Global Solutions, Inc., they undertook a two-phase project to optimize their workflows.
First, in 2022 they consolidated from seven separate testing platforms to three, and two of these were Phadia 250 instruments. Reducing the number of pieces of equipment resulted in fewer process steps and fewer screens to monitor, plus the physical consolidation of two systems sited next to each other. As a result, Geisinger needed only one employee instead of two to handle testing on these systems.6 This allowed the equivalent of one full-time employee be redeployed to other tasks.6
The expansion of testing led to an increase in demand, so in 2023 the clinical laboratory added one Phadia 1000 instrument. This system increased the volume of testing that Geisinger was able to process while still optimizing space and personnel time.6
The results of these changes were significant:
After Phadia 250 integration:6 |
After Phadia 1000 integration:6 |
|---|---|
| 38% improvement in manual labor time | 77% increase in overall testing volume |
14% improvement in total cumulative testing time |
$35,700 saved annually on lab space |
57% increase in free lab space |
23 labor hours saved each week |
Get all the details about our work with Geisinger in this white paper.
Future-proofing labs for tomorrow’s healthcare needs
Greater testing demand and staffing shortages while providing outstanding patient care — clinical laboratories today are confronting challenging conditions, but fortunately there are solutions they can leverage.
It doesn't matter how small or how large a lab is. Workflow optimization can be realized at any scale. We know each lab has its own demands and obstacles, and the flexibility of Phadia™ Laboratory Systems allows for customized workflow efficiencies.
Workflow optimization improves the layout of clinical laboratories and working conditions for staff. It doesn’t have to mean eliminating jobs for automated solutions but rather easing the workload of existing staff and freeing up employees for other activities. And, with more efficient systems that can handle laboratory tests for autoimmune and allergy testing, labs can increase their throughput and meet more patients’ needs in a timely manner.
Medical technology will continue to evolve. By positioning themselves as efficient, high-performing partners today, clinical laboratories will be ready to provide the best services tomorrow, which benefits laboratorians, HCPs, and the patients relying on them for quality care.
