Following reports on technological trends for 2026 on portals such as Fast Company, I noticed a clear movement: technology in health is no longer evaluated by its “theoretical potential” and is now being charged for governance, integration and control.
With the arrival of increasingly autonomous systems and digital agents that make flow decisions, the big debate in the current market is no longer “what can the tool do automatically?”, but rather “how do we ensure that this automation is traceable, auditable and secure?”.
In the laboratory, specifically in the pre-analytical phase, this debate is vital.
There is no point in having a fast or automated flow if the manager does not have full control over the information trail. Autonomy without supervision in healthcare is not innovation; It is operational risk.
Traceability is the foundation of governance
When we designed and evolved eTrack at Greiner Bio-One, the premise was always clear: technology must guide and protect the process, but the final word and visibility must always be in the hands of the professional.
To apply this “responsible automation” in the laboratory, I defend three principles:
- Total Auditability: Each collection action — from reading the material to releasing the batch — needs to generate an unalterable digital trail. If the technology performs the validation, the manager needs to have proof of how it was done.
- Noiseless Integration: Systems that operate in isolation generate “blind spots”. Automation needs to be integrated into the end process and the laboratory's LIS, without requiring the operator to make parallel manual launches.
- Human Assisted Control: Technology acts as a brake that prevents errors from progressing, but enables the professional to make the correct decision at the bench or during collection. It is the system working in favor of the team, and not replacing the responsibility of the process.
The standard that the market demands today
The era of adopting blind automation or solutions that do not account for the process is behind us. The future of pre-analytics belongs to ecosystems that deliver efficiency with 100% traceability and governance.
Technology needs to prove its value in practice, bringing safety to the patient and peace of mind for the manager.
To read more about governance challenges and new technology flows in healthcare, it is worth reading the Fast Company article on Technology Solutions and Trends.
Leonardo Lippel Rodrigues
Sales and Technology Manager