As one of those who cower in the phlebotomy draw chair because my veins are narrow and not close to the skin’s surface, I felt compelled to place the Phlebotomy Training Arm from MarketLab on this month’s cover. I know there are many highly skilled phlebotomists who can get blood out of my arm without a butterfly and with their eyes closed because I’ve met them — just not lately.
In addition to the Phlebotomy Training Arm, MarketLab offers many offbeat and unusual products for the clinical laboratory, several developed and/or marketed in partnership with laboratory professionals.
Unlike most distributors, MarketLab does not sell commodity items. Founder Mike Bieker’s market niche is selling the “unique and hard-to-find.” His first product, the Tube Jockey Wristband, was developed at the request of a medical technologist. It secured tubes to a wrist strap so phlebotomists could keep their eye on the needle while drawing blood. Tube Jockey Wristband ran on the cover of CLP in June 1994 and generated 2,700 leads for the start-up company.
Since then, Bieker has partnered with two phlebotomists, one to market her Chameleon Cooler and another to co-develop his Mobile Draw Station. A medical technologist contacted Bieker with an idea for a blood bank cross-match rack and before long, the product was in MarketLab’s catalog.
In an era of big box stores and one-size-fits-all products, it’s heartening to find a success story like Bieker’s right here in our own highly consolidated clinical lab industry. Don’t miss the MarketLab story on page 20.
Coleen Curran
Editor
