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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.”
May 28, 2013 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News””
Globalization of laboratory medicine continues to move forward. Two recent examples illustrate this trend. Earlier this month, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced that it had entered into an agreement with the Citizens Hospital of Hyderabad, …
Lawyers Share Insights about ACO Contracting
CEO SUMMARY: Most pathologists have yet to be involved in any substantial contractual negotiations that would allow them to assume a significant role in accountable care organizations (ACOs). Instead, hospitals and health systems are putting the building blocks in place by acquiring physi…
Pathology Labs Want Method To Correct Specimen ID Errors
CEO SUMMARY: When pathology labs discover instances of a misidentified or contaminated tissue specimen, there is a new service that allows them to retrospectively use DNA to properly match that specimen to the correct patient. In part two of our series, we look at how some pathology labs …
Unprecedented Growth Rates for Molecular Testing
CEO SUMMARY: There will be an expanding role for innovative clinical labs as healthcare moves forward on its path toward personalized medicine. However, to capitalize on this opportunity, pathology groups and clinical labs will need to beef up their information systems. They will also nee…
October 8, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Definiens AG, one of the major players in the fast-growing market for digital pathology, raised $12.8 million in additional capital funding. The company, based in Munich, Germany, manufacturers systems for digital image analysis. Definiens stated that the new funds will be used for …
Sonic Healthcare Acquires Labs from Aussie Competitor
LABORATORY CONSOLIDATION continues in Australia with news that Sonic Healthcare Limited of Sydney, Australia, has agreed to acquire three clinical laboratory business units from competitor Healthscope, Ltd., of Melbourne, Australia. The acquisition was announced on …
MD Self-Referral Issues Target of Utilization Study
CEO SUMMARY: When it comes to the in-office ancillary service (IOAS) exception to physician self-referral, the issue of in-clinic pathology services has become a hot potato. Publication in Health Affairs of a study of urologists’ self-referral of their patients for anatomic pathology se…
April 2, 2012 “Intelligence: Late Breaking Lab News”
Like a tenacious bulldog, Roche Holding AG continues its determined effort to acquire Illumina, Inc., the company that makes gene sequencing systems. Last week, Roche increased its offer from $44.50 per share to $51 per share for Illumina stock. That raises the price…
InCyte Pathology Buys DSM Lab in Walla Walla
CEO SUMMARY: For the nation’s thousands of private pathology group practices, consolidation is now a growing trend. The latest example is last week’s acquisition of the three-pathologist practice known as the Davis-Sameh-Meeker Laboratory in Walla Walla, Washington, by InCyte…
Time to Think About ACOs And Medical Homes
CEO SUMMARY: In less than nine months—on January 1, 2012—the new health reform legislation mandates that Medicare commence value-based purchasing. Medicare must also begin contracting with accountable care organizations (ACO). Experts say these two developments will initiate …
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