Why More Physicians Are Investing in Remote Labs in 2025
During the COVID-19 emergency, when almost every speciality transitioned online, many clinicians speculated about whether remote diagnostics would become a permanent fixture. Five years later, remote-first is no longer a short-term plan; it's become the competitive norm.
Market analysts predict that the global clinical laboratory services market will grow to US$245.7 billion by 2025, with a steady 4.9% CAGR through 2034. A growing share of that revenue is expected to go directly into the hands of physician-owned, tech-enabled labs.
From new CMS incentives to patient demand for home-collection kits, 2025 presents a highly favourable time for private practices and others to launch or expand a remote physician owned lab.
Reasons 2025 is the Perfect Time for Physicians to Embrace Remote Lab Ownership
Here, we will examine the primary reasons why 2025 represents an optimal period for physicians to gain control of their diagnostic services through remote lab ownership and how this transition can lead to improved patient outcomes and increased revenue for practices.
Telehealth & Remote Patient Monitoring
Video visits may have launched a tele-health surge, but the streams of diagnostic data are where the value is. CMS and AMA did their part this past year to simplify billing for home-based tests associated with healthcare organizations' Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) programs.
Meanwhile, connected devices, finger-prick micro sampling devices, Bluetooth-enabled glucometers, and point-of-care PCR analyzers are sending labs high-quality specimens from patients who collect the samples at home.
Start-ups like Athelas have demonstrated that clinics can remotely manage both oncology and behavioral health patients using an in-home blood chemistry panel with real-time alerts.
Owning a remote physician owned lab performing the diagnostic testing data completes the last loop of virtual care, turning tele-health from a convenience to a fully reimbursable continuum, offsetting the renal lab revenue, and sending the sample to a distant reference laboratory.
2025 CMS Rules Lower the Barrier
The policy has finally caught up with technology. The CY 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule updates the laboratory language for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), formally recognizing modern remote methods of care.
In the same week, a long-awaited rule also modernized CLIA personnel requirements, the first rewrites since 1992, to help small labs meet supervision standards with cutting-edge automation and middleware.
For a physician-owned lab, that means fewer staffing barriers, greater certainty in dictating their billing guidance, and a compliant way to keep diagnostics in-house, even when a specimen is hundreds of miles away.
Automation, AI & Microsampling
Industry experts have identified lab automation and AI decision support as the two leading trends that will influence the year 2025.
The development of cloud-based Laboratory Information Systems (LIS) makes it possible to directly integrate with EHRs and courier apps to route orders, track specimens, and provide results without the need for manual data entry. High-throughput molecular platforms now fit on the bench top, while micro-sampling devices can be transported safely through the mail. No dry ice or centrifuge is needed.
For a remote physician owned lab, the capital outlay per analyte is decreasing rapidly, while AI-based quality-control flags are controlling repeat testing.
Patient‑Centric Convenience
Consumers who use DoorDash or Amazon expect similar frictionless experiences in healthcare. Quest Diagnostics’ in-home phlebotomy service, Quest Mobile, as well as Labcor’s Laboratory-in-Box venipuncture kits, showcase how established home collection has become. Practices that have their own remote lab can replicate or white-label these services, bringing:
Same-day turnaround for chronic-care panels.
Fewer clinic visits for immunocompromised or mobility-limited patients.
Automated result notifications that create follow-up appointments.
Convenience is not just an extravagance; it is correlated with adherence and outcomes, both of which are commonly included in value-based care contracts.
Financial Upside & New Revenue Streams
Each standard chemistry panel, urine screen, or pharmacogenomics test that a physician previously sent out can become a revenue line internally with reimbursement clarity. Remote physician owned lab also provides a pathway for direct-to-consumer wellness panels, nutrigenomics, and employer screening programs. Analysts estimate the direct-to-consumer testing market will experience a 36% CAGR from 2025 to 2029.
Suppose practices can capture even a small portion of demand in their internal processes. In that case, they will quickly recover the costs of their initial capital investments, especially when coupled with a telehealth subscription model.
Competitive Differentiation & Practice Growth
Clinics with same-day results or even urgent care, which can be accessed within a few hours, gain a measurable competitive advantage over those waiting three days for a reference lab fax. Faster results lead to:
Improved overall patient retention: Patients will remain within a single ecosystem & bill as in-network since it is under the doctor’s NPI, rather than switching to a physician-owned lab.
Better collaboration with physicians: Specialists will take better advantage of referring to practices that can provide comprehensive, timely data and act as consultants.
Owning the data: Owning primary lab data enables the practice to utilize it for population health analytics and research collaborations, potentially generating a lucrative income opportunity.
Final Thoughts
Reimbursement, regulation, technology, and patient expectations have finally converged. Building or expanding a remote physician owned lab in 2025 is no longer an experiment; it is imperative for practices that intend to lead in value‑based, data‑driven care.
KOSMD Consulting has partnered with dozens of providers to take their ideas from concept to a credentialed lab, utilizing remote collection, AI-powered QC, and bulletproof compliance. If you’re ready to keep diagnostic revenue in-house and improve patient convenience, book a discovery call today.
