With the advances in technologies over the last 30 years, laboratories underwent major transformations and more than 70% of medical diagnosis is based on laboratory test information. However, the aging population, increasing health care demands make the global costs of health a real challenge for all societies. To face the economic crisis, upcoming policies of the goverments will be the pressure to reduce the health care costs inevitably thus will change the future of the laboratories. As a new policy authories will limit the function of the hospital laboratories with a narrow test menu and will outsource to the mega laboratories. At this point, laboratory professionals should create added value for clinical services by providing evidence based consultative support to physicians both at the pre-preanalytical phase before test selection, and both at the post-post analytical phase of the testing process to asist physicians in reviewing the results. In this respect there is a need for subspecialization in certain areas of clinical chemistry. Training programs for the next generation laboratory professionals have to be revised accordingly. In this article we will review the changing structures of the laboratories including the problems endangering the laboratories, the new role of the laboratory professionals to overcome these problems.