From NCCLS to CLSI: One Year On.

WAYNE, Pa. -- A year ago this month, nearly four decades into its history, one of the world's most trusted providers of healthcare standards took a milestone step. NCCLS--known for developing healthcare standards that balance industry, government, and professional viewpoints--changed its name to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI).

"It was time for our organization to become in name what we have long been in practice and purpose," says CLSI Executive Vice President Glen Fine.

Years before the official inauguration of the new name in January 2005, the organization's Membership and Marketing Committee undertook a broad name-change awareness campaign, which focused upon establishing a brand that would earn for CLSI the same worldwide recognition and credibility that NCCLS had developed in the preceding years.

To measure the success of these efforts, a Fall 2005 survey was distributed to a broad cross-section of the global healthcare community--over 600 responded, both CLSI participants and nonparticipants, totaling 30% of those solicited. Survey questions were designed to gauge:

--  Awareness
        The 2005 survey revealed that a vast majority of members (96%)
        and nonmembers (86%) were aware of the name change from NCCLS
        to Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute. Reflecting the
        name-change campaign's reach, results indicate nearly uniform
        awareness of the new name across all levels of management.
        Respondents in non- or lower-management, middle-management,
        and senior management positions showed awareness of the name
        change at a rate of 94-95%. CLSI Membership and Marketing
        Committee Chair Kurt Davis, FCSMLS, CAE sheds light on the
        widespread familiarity in the laboratory community: "Retaining
        the word 'laboratory' in the title was key to our principal
        community."

    --  Recognition and Credibility
        89% of US-based survey respondents agreed "that the
        organization CLSI is well recognized and respected" in the US,
        while 71% of non-US respondents attested that CLSI had
        developed recognition and respect around the world. Even while
        affirming domestic recognition of the new name in such high
        numbers, however, most US respondents underestimated the high
        degree to which the name-change campaign has also penetrated
        the non-US market.

    --  Rationale
        Perhaps the most promising findings for the organization were
        found in this section, in which fully 75% responded that the
        new name is appropriate now and for the future. To more
        specific questions, 63% of respondents agreed that "Clinical
        and Laboratory Standards Institute" is a better reflection of
        the organization's identity, and 67% confirmed that the name
        is a better reflection of the organization's purpose.

While the official marketing campaign to promote the new name has been completed, CLSI will continue to remind the healthcare community that the organization continues to provide NCCLS standards and guidelines, and to produce new CLSI guidelines under the same global consensus process upon which the organization built its global credibility.

Still, says Mr. Davis, "The survey evidenced a recognition of our new name that was far more widespread than even we expected to find after only one year."