Preparing Your Lab Team for Flu Season: How to Stay Ahead of Testing Demand

Healthcare organizations know respiratory season is coming. What they don’t know is exactly when it will hit, how hard it will hit, or what that demand will look like when it does.

For laboratory teams, that uncertainty can make workforce planning especially important. Testing volumes can climb quickly, putting added pressure on specimen processing, turnaround times, and laboratory professionals who may already be working at capacity.

And when the lab feels the pressure, it rarely stays in the lab. Delays can ripple across the care delivery process, affecting clinical decisions, patient flow, and ultimately, the patient experience.

So, how do you prepare for a surge that doesn’t exactly send a calendar invite? Here are five ways I’ve seen healthcare leaders can get ahead of it.

1. Seasonal Testing Demand Can Put Pressure on Your Entire Lab

More specimens moving through the laboratory means more work for laboratory professionals and greater pressure to maintain expected turnaround times.

For healthcare organizations, the impact can extend beyond the lab itself. Seasonal demand can put pressure across the care delivery ecosystem, and diagnostic testing can help inform clinical decisions, determine treatment, and support patient flow. When laboratory capacity is constrained, other parts of the care delivery process can slow down.

And unlike adding equipment, adding qualified people to a laboratory workforce isn’t always immediate.

2. Your Existing Team May Already Be Operating at Capacity

Lingering vacancies, workload, overtime, and retention challenges don’t disappear when flu season begins. In fact, they can become more difficult to manage when additional volume arrives.

That means healthcare leaders should consider not only how much additional work they expect, but how much capacity their current team actually has to absorb it.

The top three questions I always ask lab leaders are:

1. Where are employees already working at or near capacity?
2. How much overtime is being used?
3. What happens if testing volume increases faster than expected?

And a bonus two worth asking while you’re at it:

1. Which laboratory roles are currently hardest to fill?
2. Are there locations where coverage is particularly challenging?

3. The Talent You Need Will Be in Demand, Too

Laboratories and healthcare organizations across the market may be looking for the same qualified professionals at the same time. That can make an already competitive talent market even more challenging.

Waiting until demand peaks can also limit your options. A role that might have been filled relatively quickly several weeks earlier may become much more difficult when multiple organizations are competing for the same talent.

4. Build Flexibility Into Your Seasonal Workforce Strategy

Staffing in labs has never been a one-size-fits-all solution. The right approach depends on the role, the available talent pool, and how quickly additional support is needed.

For more entry-level positions, such as Phlebotomists and Specimen Accessioners, the local allied talent pool is often the practical starting point. For more specialized roles, such as Medical Laboratory Technologists and Clinical Laboratory Scientists, finding qualified candidates locally can be more challenging and where travel allied can help. 

Travel allied gives organizations access to a broader pool of qualified professionals who can help fill critical gaps faster. Many times with our clients, travel talent can provide coverage while they, alongside Medix, continue recruiting for a permanent local hire.

Depending on the situation, organizations may consider:

• Local Allied talent for entry-level, temporary or ongoing workforce needs when qualified candidates are available nearby.
• Travel Allied talent for specialized roles or markets where the local talent pool is limited.
• Temporary support to manage defined periods of increased demand.
• Permanent recruitment for roles that represent longer-term workforce gaps.

Our approach for hard-to-fill roles is usually to start locally, then expand regionally and nationally as needed. But again, it’s never one-size-fits-all, so flexibility is key.

5. Don’t Wait for Testing Volume to Tell You You’re Understaffed

Don’t wait to hire until your team is already overwhelmed! 

Start before seasonal peaks by reviewing historical seasonal volume and anticipated demand, identifying current vacancies and hard-to-fill positions, and evaluating where overtime or workload pressure is already elevated.

In my experience, one of the most important first steps is to look at historical data. If your laboratory has seen an increase in demand year after year, use those trends to guide your workforce plan. Focus on filling existing gaps as soon as possible, then use that data to forecast where additional support may be needed during the fall surge.

Bringing in temporary staff ahead of that increase will help you manage higher testing volumes while reducing the risk of burnout among your existing team.

Keep Your Lab Ready for the Surge

Seasonal testing demand is predictable. The exact timing and volume aren’t. And labs aren’t the only teams preparing for the surge. Pharmacy teams face their own seasonal workforce pressures as prescription, vaccination, and patient demand increases.

That uncertainty makes workforce flexibility valuable. Organizations that assess their needs early can give themselves more options when demand increases, rather than trying to solve a staffing problem after it has already become urgent.

Medix helps healthcare organizations quickly connect with qualified laboratory talent through flexible workforce solutions designed around their needs, geography, and timeline. In fact, we have a 63% quicker time-to-fill than industry average for laboratory technicians. 

Don’t wait for testing volume to tell you it’s time to staff up. Talk to one of our experts today and put us to work to support your laboratory this flu season. 

Talk to a Medix Expert Today