Education

In a constrained staffing environment, how can an outreach program effectively meet customer needs? Through creativity, collaboration, and shared services, there can be multiple solutions to provide the support needed by the laboratory staff and the people they serve.

When patients are tasked with collecting specimens at home, the procedure can require special timing, collection steps, or storage conditions. If these aren’t clearly communicated to the patient beforehand, it can lead to confusion and unnecessary frustration. A laboratory can set up its patients for success by managing expectations when home collections are necessary. These steps can help ensure a successful experience for both patients and laboratory staff.

The most successful laboratory outreach programs recognize the importance of serving multiple customers. From provider to patient to healthcare consumer, the laboratory has an opportunity to serve them all with high-quality results and excellent service. When aligning testing with community awareness and patient needs, the laboratory outreach program can strategically plan for future success.

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.

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.

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.