to main content Increasing External Visibility | The Joint Commission
In a webinar hosted by The Joint Commission, two industry experts weigh in on the topic.

Over the years, some medical professions, like nursing, have made a concerted effort to increase visibility. These efforts have paid off — campaigns have garnered support and recognition, creating value and respect for the profession.

Laboratories are one sector that could benefit from increased awareness. While increasing lab visibility internally is critical, a large awareness gap exists beyond hospital walls. Efforts must also target external organizations, community partners and the general public to highlight the hospital lab's role in health care.

Ihab Abumuhor

Ihab Abumuhor

Director of Laboratory Services, Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Ali Brown

Dr. Ali Brown

Chief Officer of Medical Quality, The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)
Ihab and Dr. Brown offer practical, real-world examples that can serve as a blueprint for how to position your lab in the limelight.

External Visibility is Critical

Hospital labs operate under enormous pressures — often needing to function with fewer resources while producing accurate test results efficiently and generating additional revenue streams.

Dr. Brown shares why hospital labs need to focus on increasing external visibility. “It's more important than ever to really raise the visibility of the laboratory to get us the resources we need and to feed people into the pipeline to become pathologists and laboratory professionals,” she says.

Follow These Tips For Lab Promotion

Elevating your hospital lab outside the hospital system is part of a solid strategy for success, but getting started can feel like a monumental task.

Ihab offers insights on tips and tricks to simplify the process that have proven highly effective at Torrance Memorial.

Cultivate Partnership with the Marketing Department

There is something to be said for leveraging the expertise of others when needed. Your hospital marketing department is skilled at designing impactful campaigns that capture the attention of your intended audience.

Ihab strongly suggests hospital lab leadership develops a solid relationship with their marketing department. Through coordination with marketing, your vision can be brought to fruition.

Craft Your Content

The right content has the power to provide education while building trust, credibility and relationships.

The content your lab develops for campaigns should align with your goals as a lab and how that message fits within the organization as a whole. Ihab advises labs to work with the marketing department to ensure that content meets institutional criteria before posting online.

Here are some potential content ideas for your lab to explore:

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Lab services and capabilities

Highlighting lab offerings can drive referrals and new patients. 
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Case studies

Sharing real-life scenarios in a HIPAA-compliant manner provides a natural way to showcase a lab's track record for excellence.
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Publications

Promoting research papers, articles and research studies not only helps elevate the medical laboratory profession, but it also elevates your lab's reputation and can attract funding opportunities.
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Awareness

Every year, the nation celebrates Lab Week to honor the work and dedication of medical laboratory professionals. The CDC developed a digital toolkit that organizations can use during Lab Week (or anytime) to increase public awareness.

Use a Variety of Print and Digital Media

Utilizing the following platforms provides a holistic approach to position your lab as an innovative, highly-skilled thought leader in the laboratory world. Each platform offers a slightly different way to approach information sharing and can reach a wide audience.

When used thoughtfully, social media can be a powerful tool to spread the word far and wide about your lab's vital role in health care delivery. Social media offers a unique opportunity to engage directly with community members, outside institutions and community partners.

Your hospital's website can leverage the visibility of your laboratory. There are many opportunities here, starting with ensuring the laboratory has a dedicated page to share updates, services and research.

Hospitals can use community publications to share key information with the public regarding the lab's impact on community health or the latest service innovations. At Torrance Memorial, hospital publications frequently celebrate achievements in the lab.

Partnering with local news outlets allows hospital labs to connect with audiences that may not be reached through digital platforms. Additionally, local media can augment and amplify information shared through hospital channels in a way that deepens the connection to the community.

Participate in Events

It may go without saying that attending various events within the community can boost your laboratory's external visibility. However, it is only part of the strategy — events that allow staff to actively participate and contribute provide significant impact.

Ihab suggests participating in the following opportunities when available:

Conferences

Presenting at conferences amplifies your lab's expertise among colleagues and creates an opportunity to share posts with the public on these presentations.

Health fairs

Participating in health fairs are prime occasions for hospital labs to engage with the community and support health equity. Additionally, health fairs allow labs to showcase their brand and any accomplishments or certifications.

Presentations in local schools

Presenting to local schools helps generate interest in pursuing a career as a medical lab professional. Ihab shares that at Torrance Memorial, these events generate a lot of interest from students and often result in requests for tours of the lab.

Career fairs

Outreach to individuals choosing career paths helps to address the tremendous workforce shortages that Dr. Brown observes. Career fairs help inspire future laboratorians, attract talent and build a positive workplace culture. 

Build External Partnerships

Getting more deeply ingrained in the community is another effective way to increase your lab's visibility. Choose to partner with organizations uniquely vital to your local community.

Ihab notes that joining forces with local chapters of the American Red Cross, American Heart Association, local churches or community organizations to provide health screenings or fairs can be very successful.

Seek Outside Certifications

And last but certainly not least, attaining special certifications, designations or other accolades from outside organizations is another valuable strategy for promoting your lab's visibility.

These recognitions demonstrate your lab's dedication to excellence through meeting rigorous standards. This helps set your lab apart from the competition while also building credibility and confidence within the community.

The Leading Laboratories designation from The Joint Commission and ASCP is an outward recognition of your lab's commitment to a patient-centric focus while working to promote the foundational role hospital labs play in quality patient outcomes.

Ihab encourages hospital labs to seek other pertinent certifications as well. One example is the Six Sigma Lab Certification. Six Sigma is a method that evaluates labs in quality control efforts, intending to minimize variations and produce reliable test results.

Putting It All Together

By combining all of these elements, laboratories can successfully increase visibility externally and pave the way to increased resources, improved staffing and community support. Through a myriad of supports such as accreditation and the Leading Laboratories designation, The Joint Commission is here to be a partner on the journey.