Silver Linings Amid the Pandemic: Everyone Now Knows the Laboratory’s Role in Patient Care

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown everyone’s lives into an upheaval, yet some in the medical laboratory profession say there have been some positive effects that may carry over after the pandemic is over. Chief among these is a greater awareness of the role of the laboratory in patient care, cross-training of staff, stronger connections with other departments, and innovative methods of delivering education.  

“Early on, SARS-CoV-2 tests were not as available as they are now,” said Aaron Odegard. MS, MLS(ASCP)CMSMCM, Chair of the ASCP Council of Laboratory Professionals. “Our team could only obtain a certain amount of kits for on-site SARS-CoV-2 testing. So we worked with nurses and physicians to develop a testing algorithm to determine which patients needed an immediate test result, versus other patients who could wait a day for their test results.

“That experience brought us closer to different services. It will definitely help patient outcomes going forward when you know the names of colleagues in other departments and have a greater awareness of their roles,” he said.

Another plus was the attention his laboratory received from the health system’s senior leadership. Prior to the pandemic, Mr. Odegard said he had never met any member of the hospital’s executive team. During the pandemic, however, the executive leadership visited the lab frequently, asking about testing and processes and wanting to meet more of the lab team. “They were very supportive and asked if we needed additional staffing or equipment. That relationship seems to be continuing,” he observed. 

Meanwhile, the hospital has cross trained staff over the past year to deal with staff shortages, particularly when some staff members came down with COVID-19. And, the hospital has expanded its network and supply chain which will make it easier to obtain necessary medical equipment and supplies when other vendors have orders on backlog.

The pandemic has also impacted the way that medical education is delivered, according to Kamran Mirza, MD, PhD, FASCP, MLS(ASCP)CM, associate professor and vice chair of education, director of medical school pathology electives and founding director of the master’s program in medical laboratory science at Loyola University Medical Center, near Chicago.
 
“Usually, the process of adapting educational pedagogy requires a lot of planning and input from stakeholders. The pandemic didn’t give us that opportunity,” he said. “We had to quickly converted a lot of education to a virtual format, and with some outside the box thinking, we made that work. Going forward, I think medical education may be delivered in a hybrid of both in-person learning and online.” 

In addition to Zoom-based meetings, innovative programs and websites have been created to fill the gap,” added Dr. Mirza, who co-founded the website, www.pathelective.com, with a medical student at Loyola. The free, interactive website offers relevant, pathology-related education for students with science backgrounds. 

Yet, truly the most important take-away from this past year, he said, is that the COVID-19 pandemic has “opened the eyes of health care of the importance of the laboratory and that the lab has to have a seat at the table. Pandemics will continue to happen. We cannot wait for the next chaos occurs before this happens.”