At 16 years old, Isak Schmidley is the youngest person to have passed the American Society for Clinical Pathology’s (ASCP) Medical Laboratory Scientist certification exam. In addition to attending high school, Isak is enrolled in college graduate classes and works as a medical laboratory scientist at a hospital in Louisiana.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, Isak joins the Mayo Clinic Laboratories outreach team — Jane Hermansen, Ellen Dijkman Dulkes, and Brianne Newton — to talk about his unique experience in joining the lab profession at a young age.

Their discussion topics include:

• Favorite aspects of medical lab science and working in a hospital lab.
• Raising awareness of the lab profession among the younger generation and engaging students at an earlier age.
• Why a career as a medical lab scientist may be a good fit for individuals with an interest in healthcare, science, engineering, and technology.

Learn more about connecting with the next generation of lab professionals at the Leveraging the Laboratory conference on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024, in Rochester, Minnesota. Register online.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with outreach solutions strategists Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss how to proactively manage the variety of patient requests and interactions that occur in an outreach laboratory beyond the phlebotomy environment.

Their discussion topics include:

• Communicating with the patient about at-home kit collection expectations.
• Maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of receiving specimens from at-home collections.
• Preventing uncomfortable situations for the patient.
• Patient questions that may arise and how to address them.

Learn more about positioning your organization for success at the Leveraging the Laboratory conference on Sept. 17 and 18, 2024, in Rochester, Minnesota. Register online.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with outreach solutions strategists Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. Their discussion focuses on advocating for the laboratory, lab careers, and the value of lab testing.

Their discussion topics include:

• How to be an advocate for the laboratory and promote careers in medical lab science.
• Their career paths and why they chose to become laboratory professionals.
• The importance of staying informed and engaged on a local and national level.
• Words of wisdom for individuals considering a future career in the laboratory.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with Dan Nelson, a Mayo Clinic contract employee and laboratory connectivity expert. They discuss the unique needs and challenges that outreach labs face with information technology (IT) systems.

Specific topics of discussion include:

• How outreach laboratories can leverage IT solutions to streamline workflows, provide efficient and convenient services to customers, and remain competitive.
• Challenges to connectivity, including robust IT support teams, middleware solutions, compliant customer workflows, electronic medical record integration, and interfacing building resources.
• How IT needs of an enterprisewide health system vary from those of an independent organization.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, speaks with outreach solutions strategists Ellen Dijkman Dulkes and Brianne Newton. They discuss how an outreach program can work with its customers on process improvements by using periodic visits and data-driven discussions.

Specific topics of discussion include:

• Strategies for having effective customer performance update meetings.
• What service elements, operational tasks, and specimen processing functions should be reviewed in a customer performance update report.
• How to use client visits to help establish a collaborative partner relationship rather than a customer-vendor relationship.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, talks with Erin Hoffman, division director of hospital sales and services at Mayo Clinic Laboratories. They discuss the value of the hospital laboratory, the challenges and opportunities facing community labs today, and how to have impactful conversations with hospital leadership.

Specific topics of discussion include:

• The greatest strengths and biggest challenges of a hospital or community-based laboratory.
• How keeping laboratory tests local benefits patients and drives revenue.
• How to effectively communicate the value of the hospital laboratory to executive leadership.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, talks with Shannon Bennett, director of regulatory affairs for the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic. They discuss the complex and changing environment of laboratory industry regulations.

Specific topics of discussion include:

• Rules around remote work for pathologists.
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) proposed rule on laboratory-developed tests and how those changes might impact laboratories.
• Updates on reimbursement legislation, including the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) and the Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act (SALSA).
• What lab professionals can do to make sure their voices are heard on regulatory issues.

In this episode of Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ “Leveraging the Laboratory” podcast, host Jane Hermansen, outreach manager at Mayo Clinic Laboratories, talks with vice president of sales and services John Heywood about the important role of sales within an outreach program.

Specific topics of discussion include:

• How sales teams can elevate and grow laboratory outreach programs.
• Why organizations may be reluctant to hire salespersons, and how to make the case to retain or recruit them.
• How to partner with the sales team to drive change.
• The characteristics of a successful outreach salesperson.
• How to grow a career in laboratory sales.