Labcorp Unveils AI Tool To Simplify Lab Test Selection

Forbes

4 days ago

Labcorp announced yesterday a new AI tool called Test Finder to help doctors speed up their ability to locate the right lab tests. Built with Amazon Web Services, the system lets clinicians type or speak their questions and then shows a ranked list of the best-matching tests or assays. Instead of navigating through more than 5,000 test items, doctors can now find what they need in a matter of seconds.
"Clinicians are under increasing pressure to do more with less," said Dr. Brian Caveney, Labcorp's chief medical and scientific officer. "Test Finder is designed to ease that burden by providing a faster, more intuitive way to navigate complex test menus, conduct research and identify the right tests, so clinicians can focus on what matters most: their patients."
Fixing Complicated Processes
Nearly 70 percent of all medical decisions depend on lab results. Yet finding the right test often requires sorting through pages of similar-sounding options. The wrong choice can mean delays, added costs, or a misstep in treatment.
The system provides access to thousands of lab tests across many areas including oncology, women's health, neurology, autoimmune diseases, and other requested assays. The use of this AI assistant aims to cut the time spent placing complex orders by up to 70 percent. For example, it might have taken navigation across 15 to 20 screens to track down a rare endocrine test. Now, the natural language-powered assistant will allow you to locate it in seconds.
That time savings matters. A primary care doctor may see thirty or more patients a day, each with a different set of lab needs. The minutes add up quickly.
How the Tool Works
Test Finder runs on AWS Bedrock and draws on a language model trained for clinical terms and Labcorp's catalog. When a doctor enters a query, the AI looks at the patient's symptoms or suspected conditions, links them to diagnostic pathways, and lists the most relevant tests. Each option shows the name, purpose, specimen type, and the code needed to order it.
The software runs on AWS infrastructure that meets HIPAA security standards. Labcorp says patient data remains encrypted end to end.
An Industry Rush Toward AI
Labcorp isn't alone. Quest Diagnostics recently partnered with Google Cloud on similar AI projects in research and customer support. Academic hospitals are testing AI agents in pathology and radiology to spot anomalies in scans faster. These experiments all chase the same goal: give clinicians better information in less time.
Labcorp processes more than 700 million tests a year and supports most newly approved FDA therapies, so the company's rollout is likely to draw attention from other large diagnostic networks.
The Test Finder team plans to keep tuning the software. Labcorp says it will judge success by how much time doctors save, how satisfied they are with the experience, and whether diagnoses speed up.
"Test Finder is a powerful example of how we're using technology to simplify complexity," said Bola Oyegunwa, Ph.D., Labcorp's chief information and technology officer. "By integrating generative AI, we're not only improving the provider experience, we're laying the foundation for smarter, more connected healthcare solutions that scale with the needs of our customers."
AI Spreading Through Healthcare
AI is showing up almost everywhere in hospitals and clinics. A McKinsey survey from late 2024 found that 85 percent of healthcare executives were already using or actively testing AI systems for tasks ranging from insurance claims to patient scheduling.
In radiology, image-analysis platforms now scan for lung nodules and tumors before a radiologist ever opens the file. Some can flag suspicious findings in minutes, which can shave hours off the time to diagnosis. In drug discovery, tools like DeepMind's AlphaFold are helping scientists map protein structures faster than they could in the lab, cutting years off early-stage research.
On the administrative side, AI models handle coding and prior authorization paperwork. Health systems using these programs have reported review times dropping by 50 to 60 percent. That allows billing staff to focus on patient-facing tasks rather than combing through forms.
Patients are beginning to interact with AI, too. Chatbots now handle routine questions about medications or symptoms. Digital mental-health tools use conversational agents to track mood swings and suggest coping strategies, particularly in rural areas with few therapists.
Balancing AI Interest With Caution
Some clinicians have raised questions about the increasing use of AI, especially on private health data. Labcorp intends that the tool is meant to support, not replace, human judgment.
Doctors and regulators agree that AI needs strong guardrails. Algorithms can reflect the biases in the data they learn from, and mistakes in a medical setting can carry serious consequences. AI powered systems such as Test Finder are increasingly adding multiple checkpoints and ongoing audits as tools are rolled out.
Still, the appeal of using AI is clear. By making it faster to match a patient with the right test, the company hopes Test Finder will do more than ease paperwork. It could help doctors get to answers sooner, and that can change lives.