LABORATORY MANAGEMENT
enhance patient care and strengthen professional networks. This is where healthcare marketing
can add real value: by bridging expertise and awareness, helping knowledge reach broader audiences and enabling collaboration among healthcare professionals.
Why should healthcare professionals care about marketing? There are a number of reasons why marketing should mater to healthcare professionals.
Raising awareness Microbiology and wider laboratory diagnostics are highly specialised fields, and many aspects of laboratory medicine are not well understood outside the profession. Greater awareness helps healthcare decision- makers appreciate the value of diagnostic testing and infection prevention initiatives. It also improves public understanding of infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the most important global public health threats.2
Supporting antimicrobial stewardship Healthcare professionals involved in microbiology have unique insights into resistance paterns, diagnostic innovation, and stewardship strategies. Sharing regional and local knowledge can improve appropriate antimicrobial use and strengthen stewardship programmes across healthcare setings and systems.
Increasing professional recognition Laboratory professionals often work behind the scenes, making critical contributions to patient care that may not always receive public recognition. One recent example is the meningococcal bacterial outbreak in the South of England, where swift action from the William Harvey Hospital microbiology laboratory helped detect and confirm the outbreak within 48 hours,3
supporting a rapid
public health response. Marketing and thought leadership activities provide opportunities to highlight such achievements, celebrate success and ensure this important work gain the visibility it deserves.
Enabling knowledge exchange and thought leadership Discussions around challenging cases, workflow optimisation and emerging technologies create valuable opportunities for collective learning. Exchanging ideas can reveal new
By creating platforms where experiences and ideas can be exchanged, organisations and individuals can support the adoption of best practice and encourage discussion around important healthcare issues.
approaches that might otherwise be overlooked, improve workflows and increase efficiency across healthcare providers. Healthcare systems differ across
regions and countries. Broader professional conversations expose participants to alternative approaches, innovative practices and new research. These interactions can inspire meaningful improvements within local organisations, institutions and laboratories. Thought leadership has become
an increasingly important element of healthcare marketing. Rather than focusing solely on product features and corporate messaging, it centres on sharing professional expertise, advancing knowledge and encouraging cross-institutional collaboration. For laboratory professionals, thought leadership can take many forms: publishing articles, presenting at conferences, participating in podcasts and webinars, contributing to professional forums or collaborating on educational initiatives. The common thread is a commitment to sharing time and insight in ways that help others learn and grow. Thought leadership also plays an important role in accelerating innovation. By creating platforms where experiences and ideas can be exchanged, organisations and individuals can support the adoption of best practice and encourage discussion around important healthcare issues. Marketing enables this by providing the
36
WWW.PATHOLOGYINPRACTICE.COM October 2026
platforms, resources and structure that help healthcare professionals engage in meaningful thought leadership initiatives.
Getting seen and heard One of the newest UK-based initiatives featuring clinical laboratory work is the ‘My Lab’ series, developed in collaboration with Beckman Coulter by The Biomedical Scientist, the bimonthly magazine of the Institute of Biomedical Science in the UK. Participating institutions so far include Notingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Bedford Hospital, Northumbria North Tyneside Hospital and East Kent’s William Harvey Hospital. These collaborations provide a
platform for laboratories to showcase their work, share experiences and discuss solutions to common challenges. They also help create a sense of belonging among microbiology and core laboratory professionals. The series focuses on real
laboratories and real professionals; most importantly, their stories are told by them. These initiatives make scientific topics more accessible and relatable, while recognising individuals and teams whose contributions may otherwise remain largely invisible outside their own organisations.
Power of all things digital Digital platforms have transformed communication, allowing experts to connect, collaborate, and share knowledge across geographies.
AdobeStock / Zamrznuti tonovi
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
