Digital labs in action: Real-world lessons in unlocking efficiency and transparency

• Digital solutions don’t replace staff, but enhance productivity with one lab reducing emergency test turnaround time by 29 percent and routine test time by nearly 50 percent

• Lab leaders who embrace digital solutions can offer transparent, real-time monitoring to lab staff empowering them to be proactive problem-solvers

• Tools that analyze operational trends in the laboratory can increase capacity with 10 to 15 percent more testing without changing logistics

Lab leaders today are facing growing pressures across their operational ecosystem, from rising sample volumes to increasing complexity in test combinations to shortages of skilled workers, to name a few. To face these rising demands head-on, lab leaders are using digitalization to help them rethink how their labs can deliver results without overburdening staff or compromising patient care.

At this year’s EuroMedLab Congress of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, PD Dr. rer nat. Nils Stührwohldt, COO and Head of Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Infectious Disease Diagnostics & Hygiene at MVZ Labor Ludwigsburg, shared his first experience with leading his laboratory through a digital transformation as they looked to improve their workflows and operational efficiency.

MVZ Labor Ludwigsburg is a diagnostic laboratory in Germany that serves the greater Ludwigsburg-Stuttgart area with a broad portfolio supporting immunology, toxicology, endocrinology, microbiology, and more.¹ In recent years, MVZ Labor Ludwigsburg identified the need to digitize to address not only the growing pressures across its operational ecosystem but also to ensure timely and patient-centered diagnostics. 

Dr. Stührwohldt was responsible for guiding the lab through this digital transformation and utilized a three-part strategy: automation, digitalization, and simplification. At the heart of his approach was a shift in mindset. Rather than seeing digitalization as surveillance or a threat to job security, the team framed it as an opportunity to improve how people work, collaborate, and serve patients.

“Change begins with courage,” Dr. Stührwohldt explained. “You have to try it, even if it feels uncomfortable at first. The goal is not to watch people, it’s to support them with tools that create real impact.”

The lab’s first step was not to implement technology, but to simplify existing processes. In the pre-analytical phase, critical steps like order entry, sample distribution, and troubleshooting were handled by separate teams, often leading to miscommunication and inefficiencies. By consolidating these functions under unified leadership, the lab improved coordination, reduced duplication of tasks, and created a smoother path for sample processing.

This foundational change made it easier to introduce digital tools later in the journey. It also sent a clear message: digitalization would serve staff, not replace them.

Simplification had another benefit. It allowed the team to focus on solving high-impact problems with precision. Pre-analytical errors, for example, account for roughly 60 percent of lab mistakes.² By simplifying this phase and adding digital sample tracking, the lab could begin reducing avoidable issues and delays right at the start of the sample journey.

A key turning point came when the team faced persistent workflow disruptions during peak hours. Around midday, large volumes of samples were entering the lab, and despite the automation in place, turnaround times were slipping. Staff had a sense that something was going wrong, but there was no way to prove it.

Rather than relying on intuition, the team turned to digital tools to analyze workflow patterns. By overlaying sample volume, timing, and system activity, they discovered a bottleneck caused by how emergency parameters were prioritized. The initial system routed these samples through one round of analysis, then sent them back through a second round, delaying both emergency and routine testing.

Using operational insights and retrospective analysis, the lab introduced a new linear workflow. Every sample followed the same streamlined path, regardless of priority. The results were immediate and measurable:³

• Emergency test turnaround time improved from 52 minutes to 37 minutes

• Routine testing time dropped from 37 minutes to just 19 minutes

• Daily processing now finishes an hour earlier, increasing staff satisfaction and freeing capacity

• Testing capacity grew by 10 to 15 percent without changing staffing or logistics

This example showed how data, when combined with clear leadership and empowered staff, could produce meaningful results in both productivity and quality.

One of the more innovative aspects of MVZ Labor Ludwigsburg’s transformation was its commitment to real-time transparency. Rather than restricting digital insights to supervisors or IT, the lab made live monitoring dashboards accessible to all employees. These dashboards displayed key metrics: system status, sample delays, turnaround times, and alerts.

This access helped transform how staff engaged with their work. Lab technicians were no longer passive participants in a linear process; they became problem-solvers with the tools and data to act. In one case, a technician spotted a sample delay linked to an inefficient test pairing and contacted leadership immediately. This prompted an update to the digital ordering system, preventing the issue from recurring.

“When people see how their work connects to the data, it builds trust and ownership,” said Dr. Stührwohldt. “It’s no longer about guessing or blaming, it’s about improving the process together.”

Importantly, staff buy-in was not automatic. Early concerns about performance tracking and job loss had to be addressed through open communication and inclusive leadership. Change management, Dr. Stührwohldt noted, accounted for up to 70 percent of the project’s success.

The lab adopted a two-pronged approach to digital analytics. On one side, live monitoring enabled staff to act on urgent issues in the moment. On the other, retrospective analytics provided a broader view of trends and patterns over time. Together, these tools created a feedback loop for continuous improvement.

Retrospective data revealed variations in sample distribution by day, allowing the lab to adapt its scheduling. It also helped uncover inefficiencies in sample handling and allowed for the reorganization of test priorities. Over time, these insights led to the development of new digital markers and scoring systems that improved diagnostics.

The lab is also working to unify its digital ecosystem. By combining analytics, sample tracking, and operational data, they aim to create a more holistic view of lab operations, one that supports smarter decision-making and ultimately better patient care.

Looking ahead, MVZ Labor Ludwigsburg sees digitalization as the foundation for more integrated, personalized diagnostics. With machine learning and AI capabilities evolving rapidly, the lab is exploring ways to link pre-analytical, analytical, and patient context data into a single, interpretable output.

“We already have the data,” said Dr. Stührwohldt. “The next step is to use it more intelligently and to interpret not just the results, but the entire diagnostic journey.”

By simplifying workflows, enabling transparency, and embracing data-driven decision-making, the lab has laid the groundwork for a new kind of laboratory, one that prioritizes both people and performance in equal measure.