Volume 40 Number 3 | June 2026
Summary
This article emphasizes that while laboratory professionals have traditionally been defined by work at the bench, the future requires visible, active collaboration across healthcare teams. By embracing interprofessional roles, advancing education, and advocating for broader engagement, laboratorians can enhance patient care, reduce errors, and help shape a more integrated, patient-centered healthcare system.
Kyle B. Riding, PhD, MLS(ASCP)CM, ASCLS President
For much of our history, medical laboratory professionals have been defined by where we work. The locked doors of the laboratory have often shaped how others perceive our role at times. Yet anyone who has worked in healthcare knows that the impact of our profession has never been confined to a given physical space. The services we provide inform diagnoses and influence many clinical decisions made every day. The importance of our work is not changing, but the expectation that we will bring our expertise more visibly into the broader healthcare team has become a reality.
We all know that healthcare is increasingly complex, and the various professions that drive it are interdependent. As such, no single discipline can meet patient needs in isolation. And as medicine evolves, so, too, must we. This evolution will involve strengthening our relationships with clinicians, nurses, pharmacists, informaticians, and administrators, and by stepping more confidently into interprofessional spaces. This shift is not about abandoning the bench. Instead, it is about extending our reach beyond it.
This collaboration is no longer a “nice to have.” It is becoming an operational necessity. Diagnostic stewardship, antimicrobial resistance, personalized medicine, and population health all demand meaningful input from medical laboratory professionals. When laboratorians are engaged early in care discussions, patients benefit because errors are reduced and resources are used more effectively and safely.
The emergence of the Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science (DCLS) has helped illustrate what is possible when laboratory expertise is intentionally embedded into clinical teams. DCLS practitioners are trained to bridge the gap between the laboratory and direct patient care. These exceptional professionals translate complex diagnostic information into actionable clinical insights. Their integration into healthcare settings demonstrates the value of laboratory professionals as consultants and collaborators.
But the future of interprofessional practice does not rest solely on one role or one degree. While the DCLS will continue to play a critical part in advancing consultative laboratory practice, the responsibility belongs to all of us. Medical laboratory scientists, technicians, phlebotomists, educators, managers, and specialists already possess deep scientific knowledge and practical experience that healthcare teams need. What is required now is institutional support and intentional preparation to engage beyond traditional boundaries.
“Seek out opportunities to collaborate beyond the laboratory walls; engage with colleagues across disciplines; and participate in the work of ASCLS committees that are shaping the future of diagnostic stewardship.”
I see this shift taking shape firsthand in my own educational program. We are working closely with nursing and other allied health programs to create shared learning experiences that move laboratory students out of professional silos. These interactions help students understand how their expertise fits into the larger care team. Just as importantly, they help future clinicians better understand the laboratory—not as a distant service but as a partner in patient care. These experiences are shaping how students see themselves and how they expect to practice when they enter the workforce.
Education is where this transformation truly begins. Across healthcare, interprofessional education has gained recognition as a foundational strategy for preparing a collaborative-ready workforce. Learning with, from, and about other professions helps students understand not only their own scope of practice but also how their expertise complements that of others. When medical laboratory students participate in interprofessional learning experiences, they begin to see themselves as active contributors to patient-centered care rather than as downstream service providers.
Importantly, this shift is being reinforced at the accreditation level. Recent National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) standards emphasize interprofessional education and collaboration as essential components of laboratory science programs. This is more than a curricular adjustment—it is a statement about professional identity. By embedding interprofessional expectations into accreditation standards, NAACLS is affirming that collaboration is central to competent, contemporary practice.
While it will take time for new educational standards to diffuse into practice, ASCLS has been actively supporting this evolution through focused advocacy that directly empowers our workforce to engage in collaborative practice. The DCLS Advancement Committee continues to elevate the role of advanced laboratory practice by promoting awareness, role clarity, and integration of the DCLS within healthcare systems. Through this work, the committee helps demonstrate how laboratory expertise can improve diagnostic decision-making, patient outcomes, and system efficiency.
Similarly, the Patient Safety and Diagnostic Stewardship Committee exemplifies how laboratorians at all levels of practice can lead alongside other healthcare professionals to improve care. Diagnostic stewardship is by nature interprofessional. It requires collaboration with clinicians, pharmacists, informatics teams, and administrators to ensure the right test is ordered for the right patient at the right time—and that results are interpreted appropriately. This work underscores the laboratory’s critical role in reducing diagnostic error, improving patient safety, and advancing high-value care.
Together, these initiatives highlight a future in which laboratory professionals are not working on the margins of healthcare, but at its center—contributing expertise, shaping decisions, and partnering across disciplines. As we look ahead, I encourage every laboratory professional to consider where you can step forward. Seek out opportunities to collaborate beyond the laboratory walls; engage with colleagues across disciplines; and participate in the work of ASCLS committees that are shaping the future of diagnostic stewardship. Whether you are a student, an educator, a bench professional, a manager, or an advanced practitioner, your voice and expertise matters. The future of our profession will be defined not only by what we know, but by how we share it, where we show up, and how boldly we claim our place on the healthcare team. Let us move forward together—visible, collaborative, and ready.
Kyle B. Riding is Clinical Associate Professor & Program Director at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire.