Digic IV 14-bit vs. 8-bit color rendition

Hi:

How do knowledgeable folks handle the situation in which Digic 4 has 14-bit color resolution, yet Photoshop CS3 is 8-bit for most editing, and photo standards like JPEG are also 8-bit? I don't do a lot of printing, but I'm starting to print more stuff and I'm not sure how to handle this or whether I should be worrying about it anyway. Seems to me that if the photo lab wants files adhering to an 8-bit standard, then 14 bit is superfluou. For best quality should I go looking for a printing services that can handle alternative file formats supporting 14 bit resolution?

Am I confused here?

-Greg