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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.
First-Mover Labs Reveal Success with Lean & QMS
CEO SUMMARY: There is good news for those clinical labs and pathology groups currently operating robust Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement programs. The Institute of Medicine’s new report calls for all healthcare providers to rapidly transform themselves into ‘continuously learn…
Louisiana Pathologists ‘Moonlight’ as Consultants
CEO SUMMARY: Few independent pathology groups have developed robust laboratory consulting businesses. But adopting that strategy has brought important benefits to Delta Pathology Group, LLC, of Shreveport, Louisiana. Not only has providing lab consulting services to cash-strapped hospital…
Lab Director Blows Whistle, NY Closes Hospital Lab
CEO SUMMARY: Unable to overcome problems at a rural hospital laboratory caused by the parent hospital’s financial problems and the inability of the hospital to recruit adequate numbers of lab staff, the laboratory director terminated his agreement with the hospital and notified the New …
Rural Hospital Labs and their Lab Directors
FROM TWO DIFFERENT STATES, WE PRESENT INTELLIGENCE BRIEFINGS that have a common element: laboratories in many rural hospitals are struggling. We consider these stories, when taken together, to be persuasive evidence that some significant number of rural hospital laboratories are experiencing ongoing …
IOM Endorses Continuous Improvement, Lean
IT IS ONE OF THE IRONIES OF HEALTHCARE that it has taken the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM) more than three decades to fully recognize the necessary and essential role that continuous improvement and the associated disciplines of Lean, Six Sigma, and process improvement must…
Process Improvement Coming to Healthcare
CEO SUMMARY: One new byword coming to healthcare in the United States is the “continuously-learning healthcare system.” At the upcoming Lab Quality Confab in San Antonio next month, lab managers and pathologists can learn more about how to achieve and sustain continuous improvement in…
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…
In Medicare Bull’s Eye: Lab Test Reimbursement
YOU CAN CONSIDER THIS ISSUE OF THE DARK REPORT TO BE an early warning of the escalating effort by public and private payers to rein in the “soaring cost” of clinical laboratory testing and anatomic pathology services. The intelligence briefings you will read on the following pag…
Prostate Biopsy Claims Affected by Policy Change
CEO SUMMARY: Quietly, with no fanfare and little advance public notice, the Medicare program is taking steps to change reimbursement policy for prostate biopsies. On August 7, 2012, Palmetto GBA adopted the new policy published on January 1, 2012, by the National Correct …
Digital Pathology Enables UCLA–China Lab Connection
CEO SUMMARY: Digital pathology holds the promise of interconnecting pathologists around the globe in ways that advance diagnostic accuracy and improve patient outcomes. One pioneering digital pathology collaboration involves the pathology departments at the medical schools of the Universi…
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