Laboratory Workforce Initiatives Gain Momentum at COLA Summit

ASCP’s Blueprint for Action has garnered a lot of attention in the laboratory community. Encouraged by its goals and recommendations to tackle the medical laboratory workforce shortage, COLA, an an independent, non-profit accreditor whose education-based program and standards enable clinical laboratories to meet U.S. CLIA 88 and other regulatory requirements, developed the Workforce Action Alliance (WAA). The Alliance, which comprises many other laboratory organizations, including ASCP, convened its second annual summit last May in Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida. COLA Inc. accredits more than 7,400 medical laboratories and provides the clinical laboratory with a program of education and accreditation.

The WAA is an executive-level group focused on identifying a few key initiatives each year to address the laboratory workforce shortage. The WAA was developed following a COLA annual laboratory enrichment forum a few years ago, where attendees agreed that one of the most effective ways to address the workforce shortage was to alleviate the crisis and the strain that laboratory science professionals and employers across the country were under due to the shortage. Attendees also felt it was important to bring organizations together to collaboratively address the issue. 

Edna Garcia, MPH, ASCP senior director for scientific engagement and research and COLA Planning Committee member, presented on the activities of COLA’s Communicating Career Pathways in Laboratory Science subgroup during the summit.

“The summit drew attendees representing medical laboratory organizations from around the United States to collectively share innovative ways in which they are also addressing the laboratory workforce shortage,” Ms. Garcia says.

That provided the impetus for COLA to invite representatives of all the groups together for the first Workforce Action Alliance Summit last year. Many have also credited the WAA Summit Planning Committee members and all the volunteer executives for the success of that first summit. The Summit Planning Committee includes representatives from the following organizations:

•       American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS)

•       American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP)

•       American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

•       National Society for Histotechnology (NSH)

•       Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

•       American Association of Bioanalysts (AAB)

•       National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA)

•       Association for the Advancement of Blood and Biotherapies (AABB)

•       Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)

•       COLA

“The Alliance works because of the dedicated efforts of everyone who participates and the commitment to focus on no more than three initiatives at any one time,” says Ms. Nancy Stratton, COLA CEO. “The success of the WAA hinges not on any one organization but is the result of many executives working together.”

At this year's summit, the group reconvened to assess the progress that has been made on the initiatives that were selected the previous year and to determine the objectives that would be pursued over the next twelve months.

One of the workgroups reviewed the existing data with fresh eyes, set a plan in motion to gather more data, and rather fortuitously found a new data reservoir to help close the gap. The workgroup hopes its efforts will help to inform policy solutions and professional advocacy in a second year of effort.

Other groups reviewed the results of the past year's efforts to visualize career paths for new and transitioning professionals and reach out to the next generation.

Ms. Garcia reported on the work regarding career pathways being done by her subgroup. “Our group has discussed how to raise the visibility of careers in laboratory medicine among high school students,” she says. “The overarching goal is laboratory workforce recruitment and retention centered around raising the visibility of the laboratory science profession with high school students, within colleges and universities, helping them visualize career pathways, identifying funding sources for educational programs and students, and increasing retention of laboratory staff.

Ms. Kathy Nucifora, MPH, MLS(ASCP), COLA’s chief operating officer and chair of the WAA Summit Planning Committee, adds, “The key measure of success for the Workforce Action Alliance is to get things done. I believe many of us would agree that while there is much work that remains, the WAA Summit did create momentum in tackling the crisis together.”

During the WAA summit, attendees also explored key trends that will affect the workforce shortage and professional skills of the future. These include artificial intelligence, robotics, value-based payment systems, and emerging public health threats.

“While working on the current crisis, it is important to consider how broader societal, reimbursement and technological trends may affect the future of the laboratory science workforce,” Ms. Garcia says.

Following a series of discussions, summit attendees agreed to continue their work on two fronts and add a new initiative for action.

The three priorities for the next 12 months will be:

1.     Continuation of the workgroup that is collecting and analyzing data to better understand the laboratory workforce, with a focus on translating insights into action.

2.     Continuation of the “Communicate Carrer Paths for New and Transitioning Professionals” workgroup and its subgroups.

3.     Understanding future trends for laboratory professional skills development and reward.

COLA and the Planning Committee members will develop and publish a written summary of the summit proceedings, which will be made available to the public this fall.

For more information about the working groups of the Workforce Action Alliance Summit, please email WAA@cola.org.

The WAA Planning Committee would like to thank the American Association of Bioanalysts Board of Registry (ABOR), the National Independent Laboratory Association (NILA) and COLA for their chartable financial contribution to help make the Summit possible.