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Clinical pathology
Clinical pathology is a medical specialty that is concerned with the diagnosis of disease based on the laboratory analysis of bodily fluids, such as blood, urine, and tissue homogenates or extracts using the tools of chemistry, microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology. This specialty requires a medical residency.
Clinical pathologists often direct all of the special divisions of the laboratory, which may include the blood bank, clinical chemistry and biology, toxicology, hematology, immunology and serology, and microbiology. Clinical pathology also involves maintenance of laboratory information systems, research, and quality control.
According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, “The practice of pathology is most often conducted in community hospitals or in academic medical centers, where patient care, diagnostic services, and research go hand in hand. Creation of new knowledge is the lifeblood of pathology and many academic pathologists devote significant time in their career to research.”
The world’s largest professional membership organization for clinical pathologists and laboratory professionals, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), says, “Pathologists are problem-solvers, fascinated by the process of disease and eager to unlock medical mysteries, like AIDS and diabetes, using the tools of laboratory medicine and its sophisticated instruments and methods. Pathologists make it possible to apply scientific advances to improve the accuracy and efficiency of medical diagnosis and treatment.”
Becoming a pathologist entails one of the lengthiest education and training tracks of all physicians. Requirements include four years of undergraduate study, plus four years of medical school, plus a minimum of four to five years of post-graduate training in pathology residency. The annual salary for clinical pathologists ranges from $183,000 to $360,000.
The American Board of Pathology certifies clinical pathologists, and recognizes the following secondary specialties of clinical pathology:
- Chemical pathology, also called clinical chemistry
- Hematopathology
- Blood banking / transfusion medicine
- Clinical microbiology
- Cytogenetics
- Molecular genetics pathology
Tools of clinical pathology include macroscopic examination, microscopes, microscopical examination, analyzers, centrifuges and cultures.
The ASCP has more than 100,000 members worldwide, and “provides excellence in education, certification and advocacy on behalf of patients, pathologists and laboratory professionals across the globe.”
April 8, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
BeaconLBS announced a collaboration with MagnaCare of Garden City, N.Y., last month. The press release issued by the two companies stated that MagnaCare would use the “BeaconLBS Physician Decision Support (PDS) solution with its network of physician and laboratory…
Ultimate Clinical Lab Automation: WakeMed Uses Drone to Deliver Patient Specimens
This is an excerpt from a 1,550-word article in the April 8, 2019 issue of THE DARK REPORT. The full article is available to members of The Dark Intelligence Group. CEO SUMMARY: For two years, clinical lab professionals at WakeMed Health and Hospitals have tested the use of aerial dron…
Wisconsin Provides Peek at Pathology’s Future
BIGGER PATHOLOGY GROUPS AND METROWIDE OR STATEWIDE COVERAGE will be major characteristics in the anatomic pathology profession as healthcare continues to transform in new ways. That is why the reasons for the substantial growth in case volume and revenue at North Shore Pathologists …
February 25, 2019 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
Quest Diagnostics sold its clinical laboratory business in India last December, thus ending a 12-year effort to build a thriving business in that nation of 1.3 billion people. The buyer was Strand Life Sciences of Bengaluru, India. The transaction was announced in a…
Sonic to Pay $540 Million to Buy Aurora Diagnostics
CEO SUMMARY: Sonic Healthcare, Ltd., announced that it would pay $540 million—a multiple of 9.2 times EBITDA—to acquire Aurora Diagnostics, the anatomic pathology company based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Sonic will gain 32 pathology practice sites and add 220 pathologists to its netw…
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October 22, 2018 Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News
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Michigan’s Ascension to Standardize Labs Throughout the State
CEO SUMMARY: Two trends are driving a movement to standardize laboratory operations across large regions: the integration of clinical care and the need for hospitals and health networks to improve patient outcomes continuously. In Michigan, Ascension Health is an example of a lab team wor…
Michigan’s Ascension labs work together to align with a fully integrated health system
CEO SUMMARY: Two trends are driving a movement to standardize laboratory operations across large regions: the integration of clinical care and the need for hospitals and health networks to continuously improve patient outcomes. THE DARK REPORT outlines an ambitious program in Michigan, wh…
Pathology Groups Should Act Now to Define Value
CEO SUMMARY: Payers and health system administrators generally agree that healthcare is moving away from fee-for-service toward value-based payment. Because adoption of value-based contracts is slower for pathologists than for other providers, pathologists have the opportunity to define h…
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXI, No. 13 – September 23, 2024
The Dark Report has visited several companies in Europe to see what innovations they have developed that might be coming to laboratories and pathology groups in the U.S. Also, hospital lab outreach businesses are still valuable commodities in the eyes of the Blood Brothers. In addition, The Dark Report delivers the 2nd quarter earnings reports of the top global IVD companies.
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