Pathologists at the table
Donald S. Karcher, MD
June 2025—June marks the American Medical Association’s annual meeting of its House of Delegates, and I’d like to use this month’s column to focus on why it’s so important for pathologists to work closely with the AMA. The short answer is this: We need to be at the table in the greater house of medicine.
But isn’t it enough to be part of the CAP? After all, we are pathologists, and the CAP is far more focused on issues specific to our practice and our patients. And the CAP is constantly advocating for us at the federal and state levels of government, as well as with private payers.
While that work is critical for pathologists, none of it involves the full house of medicine—and sometimes there is tremendous value in going beyond our own realm. Being part of the AMA allows us to be included in conversations that are taking place across all aspects of medicine and all specialties. It gives us a glimpse inside how other specialties are functioning in the health care system and with its various components, including hospitals and health care networks. By looking outside our immediate specialty, we gain the opportunity to see challenges on the horizon and how our counterparts in other specialties and other organizations are responding to them.
That’s an important intelligence-gathering function. When AI tools began cropping up in pathology, we looked to the world of radiology, which encountered these tools first. When scope-of-practice issues began affecting pathologists and our teams, we looked to specialties such as anesthesiology to see how their scope issues have progressed and which responses have been most effective.
Being part of the AMA isn’t a one-way street. In addition to gleaning new insights, we can use our participation in the house of medicine as a means of educating our fellow physicians on the challenges we face as pathologists. Other clinicians might not know that issues we’re dealing with have a direct impact on their ability to care for their patients, but they should. Through the AMA, we can raise awareness about our own work and the problems we’re facing with other physicians, other specialists, and other organizations. With many of the challenges facing pathology, we will likely need the support of our physician peers. When there’s a major issue for any specialty in medicine, we’re way more powerful when the entire house of medicine advocates for us.
We have made good use of the AMA’s clout as a member of its Scope of Practice Partnership. Scope creep is a challenge we feel in pathology, but it is by no means limited to our specialty. Because the AMA represents all physicians, it can tackle this topic more comprehensively than the CAP alone can. The AMA is also always advocating for appropriate coverage of medical services with government and private payers. As the oldest and largest physician organization in the world, the AMA is influential in Congress. From the CAP’s perspective, being allied with the AMA enhances our own advocacy power.
Thanks to our vibrant membership, the CAP serves as the secretariat for the Pathology Section Council of the AMA. This leadership role among all member pathology organizations puts us in an excellent position to focus attention on the issues that matter most. I have found that within the AMA, people look to the CAP for leadership on pathology and many other issues. We are highly respected within the house of medicine. To keep our role as secretariat, the CAP must continue to have a critical number of members who also have membership in the AMA. If you aren’t already an AMA member, I encourage you to join. If possible, I also encourage you to be a member of your state medical association. Having a seat in the house of medicine at the state level also serves us well, as many payment, coverage, and scope-of-practice issues are managed by state laws and regulations.
I know there’s a lingering perception among some pathologists that the AMA doesn’t always act in our best interests, but I assure you this is ancient history. In recent years the AMA has been a strong supporter of our needs, including payment. Also consider that being a member of the AMA gives you a voice in that organization—one you can use to raise awareness of issues that you consider most important and how they should be addressed. In the challenging times that pathology and all of medicine are facing now, working together for the greater good and for the good of each specialty makes perfect sense.
Dr. Karcher welcomes communication from CAP members. Write to him at president@cap.org.