CAPcast from the College of American Pathologists

Subspecialty signout is becoming increasingly common in surgical pathology. In this CAPcast, Dr. Christa Whitney-Miller, Director of Surgical Pathology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, talks about what’s driving this change as well as the benefits and drawbacks. Dr. Whitney-Miller will be teaching a course on this topic at CAP18, which will be held Oct. 20-24 in Chicago. To learn more about CAP18, visit www.capannualmeeting.org.

Technical and investigative advances have greatly expanded pathologists’ knowledge in the field of hematology. To help pathologists and laboratorians keep up with these changes, the CAP Press has just released the second edition of the Color Atlas of Hematology, an expanded version of the first with new content focusing on peripheral blood pathology. In this CAPcast, senior editor Dr. Eric Glassy and co-editor Dr. Katherine Galagan discuss this edition’s new content and how pathologists and laboratorians can best implement this vast resource of information into their practice. Learn more about the book: https://capatholo.gy/2rqUzOx.

Hemostasis/thrombosis is one of the most complex area of laboratory practice. While the impact of preanalytical variables on coagulation testing is well known, it can be difficult to control. In this CAPcast, Dr. Kristi Smock, a pathologist and Medical Director at ARUP Hemostasis/Thrombosis Laboratory in Salt Lake City, Utah, discusses some of the best practices to ensure quality in the preanalytic phase of coagulation testing as well as identifying coagulation tests subject to requirements for calibration and AMR verification. Dr. Smock will be teaching a course on this topic at CAP18 which will be held Oct. 20-24 in Chicago. Learn more about CAP18: http://www.capannualmeeting.org/.

Many pathologists are not only members of CAP, but also other specialty medical organizations as well as the American Medical Association. In this CAPcast, Dr. Jason Scapa, the UCLA Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine’s Chief Resident and Secretary of the CAP Residents Forum Executive Committee, interviews two CAP members, Dr. Nicole Riddle and Dr. Sang Wu, about why and how they are active in pathology and organized medical associations. Dr. Riddle, a pathologist at Tampa General Hospital in Florida, is currently on the CAP House of Delegates Steering Committee and the current Delegate to the HOD for USCAP and Member-at-Large of the Young Pathologists Section Governing Council at the AMA. Dr. Wu is a pathologist with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospitals in Denton and Dallas, and is active with the college, serving as the Chair for the CAP Practice Management Committee, Member at-Large for the CAP House of Delegates Steering Committee, and member of the PathPAC Board.

In this CAPcast, Dr. Donald Karcher will discuss how the current political climate is impacting key advocacy issues for pathologists. Dr. Karcher is a Chair of the Pathology Department at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, as well as the Chair of the CAP’s Council on Government and Professional Affairs. He is also a member of the CAP Board of Governors.

Improving blood product utilization not only impacts patient outcomes, it can also yield significant cost savings. In this CAP Case Example, Geisinger Health System’s Medical Director for Transfusion Medicine, Dr. Amanda Haynes, explains how she spearheaded a blood product utilization improvement program that resulted in more than $1 million in savings in 2015. Read more about Geisinger's initiative in this CAP Case Example: https://capatholo.gy/2HmlXVm.

In this CAPcast, Dr. Matt Anderson discusses his work on new methods to sequence the genes encoding human leukocyte antigens, better known as “HLA.” Dr. Anderson is Vice President and Medical Director at the BloodCenter of Wisconsin, an Associate Investigator at the Blood Research Institute, and an Assistant Professor of Pathology at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He also currently serves on the Personalized Healthcare Committee of the CAP, and he’s written a short article summarizing some of his work on HLA genes that is posted in the Precision Medicine Resource Center on the CAP web site, http://capatholo.gy/2FIHjh7.

Legislation to increase transparency and accountability in Medicare’s Local Coverage Determinations is currently pending before Congress. The legislation, which is championed by the CAP and pathologists around the country, continues to gain momentum in both the House and Senate with the total of 44 representatives and 15 senators currently sponsoring the bill. Reforms are necessary to ensure that independent, medical and scientific evidence is not used selectively when developing Local Coverage Determinations, which are also known as LCDs. The CAP helps ensure that all pathologists are appropriately reimbursed for medically reasonable and necessary services provided to Medicare patients. In this CAPcast, Dr. Gail Vance will discuss this LCD issue, as well as why and how she is advocating for pathologists.

An international consortium of cytopathologists, surgical pathologists, and urologists known as the Paris System Working Group has published a standardized system for urine cytology reporting. This new system was conceived at the 18th International Congress of Cytology in Paris in May 2013. In this CAPcast, consortium member Dr. Daniel Kurtycz and co-editor of the atlas discusses what pathologists need to know about this new reporting system, known as the Paris System.

At the annual Policy Meeting, government leaders and policy experts discuss how major policy and regulatory challenges impact pathologists. In addition, CAP members meet with their representatives and senators in Congress. In this CAPcast interview, Dr. Jared Abbott discusses what he gets out of attending the meeting each year and his experience engaging in advocacy. The 2018 Policy Meeting will be held April 30-May 2 in Washington, DC, learn more: http://capatholo.gy/2si9z4T.