TAG:
Pathology group
A pathology group is an organization of clinical pathologists working on the diagnosis of disease based on laboratory analysis of bodily fluids such as blood and urine, as well as tissues, using the tools of chemistry, clinical microbiology, hematology and molecular pathology. Clinical pathologists work in close collaboration with medical technologists, hospital administrations, and referring physicians.
The business model of a pathology group has traditionally been as a private group practice, including solo practitioner, medical group partnership, professional corporation (PC), limited liability company (LLC), and similar professional business organizations. It is common for pathology groups to have contracts with one or more hospitals to provide anatomic pathology professional services and clinical pathology professional services.
Pathology itself is a significant component of the causal study of disease and a major field in modern medicine and diagnosis. The term pathology may be used broadly to refer to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of bioscience research fields and medical practices, or more narrowly to describe work within the contemporary medical field of “general pathology,” which includes a number of distinct but inter-related medical specialties which diagnose disease mostly through the analysis of tissue, cell, and body fluid samples.
Pathologists in hospital labs and pathology groups practice as consultant physicians, developing and applying knowledge of tissue and laboratory analyses to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of individual patients. As scientists, they use the tools of laboratory science in clinical studies, disease models, and other experimental systems, to advance the understanding and treatment of disease.
Clinical pathologists in a pathology group administer a number of visual and microscopic tests and an especially large variety of tests of the biophysical properties of tissue samples involving automated analyzers and cultures. Sometimes the general term “laboratory medicine specialist” is used to refer to those working in clinical pathology, including medical doctors, PhDs and doctors of pharmacology.
Immunopathology, the study of an organism’s immune response to infection, is sometimes considered to fall within the domain of clinical pathology.
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.
Increasing Costs for Genetic Tests Are Busting Lab Budgets
CEO SUMMARY: Across the nation, hospital administrators are recognizing that effective lab test utilization is a critical factor in a lab’s success. At Seattle Children’s Hospital, clinical pathologists, clinical chemists, and laboratory genetic counselors are …
How Pathologists Earned a Place at the ACO Table
ACO Table ALL ANATOMIC PATHOLOGISTS WONDERING ABOUT THEIR PLACE in a healthcare system dominated by accountable care organizations (ACOs) and similar models of integrated clinical care may find useful insights from the experience of a six-partner pathology group in Wisconsin as it established itsel…
Pathologists Contribute To Care in Wisconsin ACO
CEO SUMMARY: From the launch in 2013 of a big accountable care organization in Wisconsin, the North Shore Pathologists at Columbia-St. Mary’s Hospital have been involved. Among the lessons learned are the importance of structuring the pathology contract with the hospital to antic…
Benchmarking with the Best To Be a World Class Laboratory
CEO SUMMARY: This fourth installment of this special series about the laboratory value pyramid introduces “Level Four: Use Benchmarks to Achieve Best-in-Class.” This is the highest level of the four level pyramid. When a lab organization performs at this level, it will be deliver…
LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics Both Say 2014 Revenue Was Up
BOTH OF THE NATION’S LARGEST clinical laboratory companies reported increased specimen volume as a result of the Accountable Care Act (ACA), as noted in their respective fourth quarter and full-year earnings reports. First to issue its earning statement was Quest Diagnostics Incorporated. On…
Early ACO Experience Has Lessons for Pathologists
CEO SUMMARY: To date, many of the nation’s 500 accountable care organizations have launched with little involvement by independent pathology groups and clinical laboratories. That was not the case with an ACO in Alabama, however. From its inception in 2012, the ACO has contract…
Labs Have Strategies to Address Narrow Networks
IN TODAY’S EVOLVING HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, labs and pathology groups of all sizes in all communities are dealing with the issues of payers narrowing networks and the formation of ACOs, with all the unknowns about reimbursement that come with this new organizational model of healthcare. That is why you…
Locked Out of Payer Network, NH Hospital Opens Lab Company
CEO SUMMARY: Since Anthem launched its site of service program in New Hampshire in 2010, labs in the state’s hospitals have mostly been excluded from its network and have lost market share. Recently one community hospital developed an unusual strategy to win back those patients…
Early Experience with Accountable Care Organization Has Lessons for Pathologists
More than 500 accountable care organizations now operate nationwide. To date, however, few independent pathology groups and clinical labs have successfully negotiated lab testing contracts with these ACO…
Florida Doctors Refuse to Use UHC’s Lab Ordering System
CEO SUMMARY: It may not yet be open rebellion, but UnitedHealthcare faces strong opposition in Florida from physicians- and their medical societies-over the requirement that they obtain pre-notification and pre-authorization when ordering tests listed in UHC’s laboratory benefit …
CURRENT ISSUE
Volume XXXII, No. 6 – April 21, 2025
Now that a federal judge has vacated the FDA’s LDT rule, The Dark Report analyzes the judgement and notes the various steps the FDA could take in response. Also, lab testing at pharmacies is proving to be less successful than was once anticipated.
See the full table of contentsHow Much Laboratory Business Intelligence Have You Missed?
Lab leaders rely on THE DARK REPORT for actionable intelligence on important developments in the business of laboratory testing. Maximize the money you make-and the money you keep! Best of all, it is released every three weeks!
Sign up for TDR Insider
Join the Dark Intelligence Group FREE and get TDR Insider FREE!
Never miss a single update on the issues that matter to you and your business.