In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss common reasons that outreach programs fail to launch and strategies for building momentum to implement a program. Specific topics include:

• The knowledge and competitive insights needed to move forward.
• Strategies to enter or expand into a large market without being overwhelmed.
• Buy-in from leaders on your outreach program implementation plan.
• Action plans and project management best practices.

Listen to the first episode in this series, “Overcoming Common Barriers to Outreach Success.”

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss common challenges outreach programs face that can lead to a program’s failure and how to overcome those barriers. Specific topics include:

• Bolstering leadership support and navigating competing priorities.
• Retaining customers and fixing common communication mistakes.
• Maintaining awareness of things that you cannot control but can impact your program.
• Establishing strong, dedicated leadership of the outreach program.

View the 11 tactics that lead to the highest level of laboratory outreach success mentioned in this episode.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton to discuss building an outreach team. Specific topics include:

• Insights for identifying roles and staff for your outreach team.
• Guidance for establishing goals for an emerging outreach program.
• Strategies for effective communication among the outreach team.
• Tips for building strong relationships with your customers.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They build on their previous discussion about customer service by focusing on service recovery.

They discuss strategies for responding to mishaps in the laboratory in a way that supports your broader customer service goals. Specific topics include:

• Common breakdowns in the laboratory outreach environment that may require service recovery.
• Four parts of an effective response: listening, acknowledging, apologizing, and actions to rectify the situation.
• The power of turning service breakdowns into problem-solving opportunities that make your laboratory outreach program better.
• The importance of a quality management plan and empowered staff in effective service recovery.

Additional resources mentioned during the podcast include Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ outreach articles on customer service and a free, on-demand customer service training module.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss strategies for delivering excellent customer service. Specific topics include:

• Identifying points of contact with patients and clients that are opportunities to deliver a good experience.
• Creating a culture of customer service.
• Empowering employees to best serve patients and clients.
• Measuring your customer service.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, is joined by colleagues Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss and share tips related to gathering customer input, including:

• The various audiences that can provide valuable feedback.
• Specific examples of the type of feedback to gather from each audience.
• Insights on designing and sending surveys to maximize participation.

Visit mayocliniclabs.com to find the survey instruction guide and article about surveying discussed in this episode.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with Vipul Trivedi, M.D., chair of Pathology at Mayo Clinic Health System and chair of the Division of Community Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Trivedi helps oversee 38 hospital and clinic laboratories in various Midwest communities. He shared his advice for other leaders and insights on the role of pathology in community medicine, including:

• Providing guidance to physicians to help them leverage testing to best answer questions and reduce patient care costs.
• Meeting with physicians to understand their needs so the labs are prepared to best support them.
• Simplifying procedure management.
• The power of getting out of your office to talk with colleagues and laboratory staff.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of laboratory-developed tests (LDT) and implementation of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) are both topics of high interest in the laboratory industry.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with Shannon Bennett, director of Quality and Regulatory Affairs for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, about these two topics, giving listeners:

• Background to help them make informed decisions.
• Actionable steps to take today to prepare for implementation.
• Ideas for advocating for your laboratory.
• Sources for learning more and staying informed.