Reading the future: the increased relevance of laboratory medicine in the next century.

Through intelligent process control and data management, the laboratory may become the most frequently used--and the most important--source of diagnostic information in medicine. The central laboratory of the future is destined to become an esoteric testing center, whereas routine testing--administered at the patient bedside or at home--will become more economical. Point-of-care testing will soon become the most profitable way to provide laboratory services. Novel phlebotomy techniques and noninvasive tests may allow some diagnostic testing to be done through automated robotic companions that serve homebound patients or the elderly.