Beyond the Bench: Repositioning Diagnostics as Strategic Drivers of Healthcare Transformation

Labs must now do more, with fewer resources — but new technologies and integrated services can reposition diagnostics as a strategic growth driver throughout the entire care pathway.

Pressures on labs across the Asia-Pacific region are higher than ever before. Decentralization, workforce shortages, generational shifts, decreasing knowledge, cost pressures and emerging technologies are all reshaping healthcare.

In Australia and New Zealand, the increasing complexity of patient testing for personalised medicine and genomics has created a critical shortage of pathology staff in some disciplines¹.

Several South East Asian (SEA) economies — particularly in rural areas — face pathology challenges including “uneven distribution of diagnostic labs, limited qualified staff, implementing guideline challenges, and a shortage of trained personnel.”².

And in Japan, India and Australia, fragmented infrastructure and a lack of standardisation create inconsistencies between urban and semi-urban/rural areas on test methodologies, pricing and interpretation, creating challenges for clinicians and patients³.

Clinicians across the region, meanwhile, are now required to interpret ever more complex patient insights, generated from more data points, tests, assays and devices⁴. Fragmented pathology ecosystems and unstandardised test formats can make results difficult to compare, integrate or interpret consistently, creating barriers to rapid decision-making.

All of which means that, to meet hospital C-suites’ expectations for increased efficiency, improved health outcomes, and lower costs, lab teams must now do more with less. Maximizing productivity and ensuring uninterrupted instrument availability have become their top priorities.

Reframing diagnostics from transactional to strategic opportunity

Increasing pressure and complexity do, however, also create an opportunity: to deliver more value for clinicians and patients by transforming diagnostic capabilities to improve hospital-wide clinical and economic outcomes across the entire care pathway.

New technologies now make this possible. With next-gen, AI-powered diagnostic tools and deeper patient insights from large datasets, labs can reduce variability in results and give clinicians clearer, more actionable insights.

These technologies can connect diagnostics to downstream hospital operations, increase efficiencies, and streamline processes across the lab floor¹ — including automated digital pathology platforms for oncology, integrated clinical chemistry and immunoassay testing, and AI-driven clinical decision support.

Creating value beyond the lab bench

The opportunity for transformation is clear. But to get there, diagnostics cannot remain a standalone lab function. Pathology teams need a diagnostic partner with the capabilities to drive strategic growth.

An integrated, end-to-end service offering is key. Predefined, easy-to-install, highly automated solutions must be designed not only around technical requirements, but complex lab workflows and user needs too — reducing bottlenecks and freeing up teams to focus on high medical value (HMV) tasks.

Seamless, transparent service interactions are also non-negotiable, giving labs full visibility over service solutions to optimise workflow efficiency, anticipate bottlenecks, and maintain continuity across critical processes.

And labs must look for diagnostic partners offering rapid, remote-first issue resolution including proactive, AI-enabled digital support to simplify processes and minimise disruptions.

The impact of transformation

This approach pays dividends for productivity. Labs embracing transformation with a service partner dedicated to growth will see increased lab continuity and improved patient outcomes, benefiting from end-to-end service support.

• Increased lab continuity
  Streamlined workflows and proactive management reduce bottlenecks and minimise downtime, keeping critical processes running smoothly.
• Improved outcomes
  More consistent, standardised results support faster, more informed clinical decision-making and better patient care.
• End-to-end service support
  Integrated service and monitoring help labs respond quickly to challenges, maintain efficiency, and focus on high-value tasks.

Roche is on hand as your strategic growth partner.

Roche 360° Service Solutions is a trusted strategic partner for lab teams across the Asia-Pacific region. We catalyse our customers’ growth by bringing our technical, scientific and digital service expertise to meet clinical demands, while optimising productivity and improving laboratory reputation and patient care.

This includes:

• Continuous innovation
  Throughout the partnership Roche 360° Service Solutions is committed to enabling your site to function optimally, now and in the future.
• Workspace mapping
  Roche 360° Service Solutions’ experienced team of specialists use cutting edge consulting methods and innovative monitoring tools to tailor a bespoke to your individual requirements — no matter how they’re changing.
• Installation & configuration
  We’ll help you get new diagnostic tools online at speed, minimizing operational disturbance with robust project management and digital transformation guidance.
• Repair & maintenance
  Minimize unexpected down time with continuous system monitoring, proactive maintenance and full traceability through both global and local support networks.
• Leaning
  Our lab partners ensure operational readiness with consistent, tailored and scalable digital and onsite training covering the full instrument lifecycle.

Lab teams consistently say Roche’s end-to-end service offering stands apart in the market, indicating significant satisfaction amongst current Roche customers compared to competitors — particularly in training, system maintenance and technical support.

“At Roche Diagnostics,” says Michael Veitinger, Ph.D, Head of Roche Diagnostic Customer Service Value, “we recognize that top-tier service is vital, as it is one of the most important factors in purchasing decisions.

“We are transforming the role of service from mere support to a true partnership. This enables our customers to maximize their efficiency, differentiate themselves in the market, and rely on a future-oriented collaboration.”