The ultimate goal of value-based laboratory medicine is maximizing the effectiveness of laboratory tests in improving patient outcomes, optimizing resources and minimizing unnecessary costs. This approach abandons the oversimplified notion of test volume and cost, in favor of emphasizing the clinical utility and quality of diagnostic tests in the clinical decision-making. Several key elements characterize value-based laboratory medicine, which can be summarized in some basic concepts, such as organization of in vitro diagnostics (including appropriateness, integrated diagnostics, networking, remote patient monitoring, disruptive innovations), translation of laboratory data into clinical information and measurable outcomes, sustainability, reimbursement, ethics (e.g., patient empowerment and safety, data protection, analysis of big data, scientific publishing). Education and training are also crucial, along with considerations for the future of the profession, which will be largely influenced by advances in automation, information technology, artificial intelligence, and regulations concerning in vitro diagnostics. This collective opinion paper, composed of summaries from presentations given at the two-day European Federation of Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Strategic Conference "A vision to the future: value-based laboratory medicine" (Padova, Italy; September 23-24, 2024), aims to provide a comprehensive overview of value-based laboratory medicine, projecting the profession into a more clinically effective and sustainable future.

Bianalisi Group Monza Roma Italy

BostonGene Waltham MA USA

Centre of Primary Care and Health Services Research University of Manchester Manchester UK

Clinical Department of Laboratory Medicine UZ Leuven Leuven Belgium

Department of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine Leiden University Medical Center Leiden The Netherlands

Department of Clinical Chemistry Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam The Netherlands

Department of Laboratory Medicine Paracelsus Medical University Salzburg Austria

Department of Laboratory Medicine University of Padova Padova Italy

Department of Medical Biochemistry Faculty of Pharmacy University of Belgrade Belgrade Serbia

Department of Medicine University of Padova Padova Italy

Department of Pathology Microbiology and Immunology Vanderbilt School of Medicine Nashville TN USA

Division of Laboratory Systems Center for Laboratory Systems and Response Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta GA USA

EFLM Committee on European Regulatory Affairs and EFLM Liaison to BioMed Alliance in Europe Brussels Belgium

Heidelberg University Heidelberg Germany

Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics 1st Faculty of Medicine Charles University and General University Hospital Prague Czech Republic

IRCCS Galeazzi Sant'Ambrogio Milan Italy

Laboratory Medicine IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute Milan Italy

Laboratory Medicine Unit University Hospital of Padova Padova Italy

Medical Faculty Clinical and Experimental Medicine University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Modena Italy

Medical Faculty Department of Medical Biochemistry Akdeniz University Antalya Türkiye

Medical Faculty of Mannheim Vinzenz von Paul Kliniken gGmbH Stuttgart Germany

Noklus Haraldsplass Deaconess Hospital Bergen Norway

Onco Hematology Laboratory Necker Hospital and Université Paris Cité Paris France

Research Centre for Brain Aging University Hospital of Padua Padova Italy

Section of Clinical Biochemistry University of Verona Verona Italy

Trinity College University of Cambridge Cambridge UK

University Vita e Salute San Raffaele Milan Italy

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