Public health labs fill an essential market failure. When people think about laboratory testing, they often imagine major hospital systems, academic medical centers, or large commercial labs processing thousands of samples a day.
But behind the scenes, public health laboratories do the critical testing that these institutions often can’t—or won’t—do. These labs address a fundamental gap in the healthcare system: testing that is essential for protecting communities often isn’t profitable, scalable, or logistically feasible for commercial or academic institutions.
Commercial Labs Prioritize Profit, Not Public Good
Commercial laboratories exist to make money. That’s not a criticism. It’s simply a fact of their business model. They focus on tests that are ordered frequently, reimbursed reliably by insurance companies, and supported by scalable operations. But many of the most important public health tests don’t meet those criteria.
Testing for a rare but deadly disease like botulism or rabies might only happen a few times a year in a single state. Testing air, soil, or food samples for chemical contamination isn’t reimbursed by health insurance. Running lab-based surveillance and testing for outbreaks or bioterrorism threats rarely pays the bills.
Even when commercial labs have the technical capacity, they often lack the flexibility or incentive to respond to public health emergencies. They don’t build relationships with public health agencies or law enforcement. They aren’t equipped to process high volumes of specimens at short notice without guaranteed payment. And they usually don’t maintain the specialized equipment or trained personnel needed to handle emerging or exotic threats.
Academic Labs Lack Scale, Certification, and Infrastructure
Academic laboratories are centers of scientific innovation, but they are not built for rapid, high-volume clinical testing. Most are designed for research, not 24/7 diagnostic operations. Their staff are researchers and students, not full-time microbiologists or certified lab technicians. And while they often have access to cutting-edge tools, they typically lack the standardized protocols, quality controls, and certification processes required for clinical testing that guides patient care or public health decisions.
Academic institutions also don’t have the legal and procedural infrastructure for chain-of-custody testing in criminal or bioterrorism cases. They’re not integrated into emergency response systems. And they rarely have formal agreements with state or federal agencies to coordinate testing during a health crisis.
Public Health Labs Serve a Unique and Irreplaceable Role
Public health labs are uniquely designed to fill this gap. They exist to serve the public good, not to generate profit. They are funded by governments, staffed with specialized personnel, and certified for high-complexity testing. They maintain the equipment and protocols needed for rare, emerging, or dangerous pathogens. And they operate within emergency response systems, able to scale up operations rapidly during an outbreak or threat.
In times of crisis—whether it’s a new virus, a chemical spill, or a white powder in the mail—it is public health labs that step in. Without them, our ability to detect and respond to public health threats would be significantly weakened. Commercial and academic labs play critical roles in the broader healthcare ecosystem, but they cannot replace the vital functions of public health laboratories.