'Factory' laboratories: blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

摘要

We read with great interest the Editorial by Plebani and Lippi who discussed with the usual competence and crispness the risk that the increasing automation in clinical laboratories will outpace the laboratory professional involvement in assuring optimal tests use and interpretation [1]. According to them the "factory scenario" will induce two deleterious consequences: a progressive autonomy from the clinical context and the perception of the laboratory services as a commodity. The value of the Authors is universally recognized (their cumulated h-index is 72!) but this time we cannot agree with them.