Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is a time to recognize the essential role laboratories play in patient care. This year’s theme: “Lab Story: To Infinity and Beyond for our Patients!” captures both the mission and the momentum of the profession.

But it also presents an opportunity to reflect on an important dynamic within healthcare: the relationship between clinical laboratories and the commercial organizations that support them.

Having spent significant time on both sides, one thing is clear, many of the challenges in product adoption, implementation, and long-term success are not rooted in science. They stem from gaps in understanding how laboratories actually operate.

Here are some of the most important things laboratories wish their commercial partners knew.

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1. The Laboratory Is a System, Not a Step

From the outside, the lab can look like a discrete function: a place where tests are performed and results are generated.

In reality, it is a tightly interconnected system involving:

• Pre-analytical variables (collection, transport, accessioning)
• Analytical processes (instrumentation, QC, maintenance)
• Post-analytical workflows (verification, reporting, clinical communication)

Changes in one area ripple through the entire system. Products that succeed are those designed with this system-level perspective in mind, not just analytical performance.

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2. Workflow Is the Primary Currency

In commercial settings, performance metrics often dominate: sensitivity, specificity, turnaround time.

In the laboratory, workflow is just as critical.

Questions that matter:

• How many steps does this add?
• Can it be automated?
• Does it integrate with the LIS?
• What happens on second and third shift?

Even small inefficiencies scale quickly in high-volume environments. A technically superior solution that disrupts workflow may struggle. A well-integrated solution with solid performance often wins.

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3. “Ease of Use” Is Context-Dependent

Many products are described as “easy to use.”

But ease is relative to:

• Staffing levels and skill mix
• Competing priorities during a shift
• Frequency of use
• Training and competency requirements

What feels simple in a controlled demo environment can become burdensome in a real laboratory setting. Understanding context is essential to designing truly usable solutions.

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4. The Regulatory Environment Shapes Everything

Laboratories operate under constant regulatory oversight, including requirements from agencies such as Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), College of American Pathologists (CAP), and AABB.

This impacts:

• Validation and verification processes
• Documentation requirements
• Change management
• Ongoing quality monitoring

Adopting a new product is not just a purchase decision, it is a regulatory commitment.

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5. Implementation Is Where Success Is Determined

The handoff from commercial team to laboratory is a critical moment.

Challenges often arise when:

• Workflow assumptions don’t match reality
• Training is insufficient or poorly timed
• Support models don’t align with lab operations
• Unexpected workarounds are required

Strong implementation support, grounded in real laboratory experience, can be the difference between adoption and abandonment.

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6. The Laboratory Voice Is Often Underrepresented

In many organizations, purchasing decisions involve multiple stakeholders: administration, finance, clinicians, and procurement. The laboratory perspective is not always central in early discussions.

This can lead to:

• Misaligned expectations
• Underappreciation of operational impact
• Delays or friction during implementation

Engaging laboratory professionals early, and meaningfully, improves outcomes for everyone involved.

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7. Partnership Outperforms Transaction

The most successful relationships between laboratories and commercial organizations are not transactional, they are collaborative.

They involve:

• Ongoing dialogue about workflow and challenges
• Responsiveness to feedback
• Willingness to adapt and improve
• Shared focus on patient outcomes

When commercial teams understand the laboratory environment, they are better positioned to deliver solutions that truly work.

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Strategic Takeaway

Laboratories are complex, high-stakes environments where operational efficiency and patient safety are tightly intertwined. Commercial success in this space depends on more than innovation, it depends on alignment.

Organizations that invest in understanding laboratory workflows, constraints, and priorities will not only see better adoption, they will build stronger, more sustainable partnerships.

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Closing Perspective

Medical Laboratory Professionals Week is a reminder of the critical work happening behind the scenes every day. It is also an opportunity to strengthen the connection between those who develop solutions and those who use them.

Because when commercial insight and laboratory reality come together, the result is better performance, better adoption, and ultimately, better care for patients.