Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 11:00-11:30 AM CT
Roundtable presenters Nick Fingland, PhD, PMP, Senior Director, R&D Operations and Science, BD, and Chris Farnsworth, PhD, D(ABCC), Section Head of Clinical Chemistry, Professor of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 1:00-2:00 PM ET
Learn about digital pathology technology that is future-ready, yet practical for today’s
laboratory needs.
Webinar presenters Scott Hammond, Senior Systems Consultant, Digital Pathology Division, Wexner Medical Center, Department of Pathology, and Ursula Hofer, Imaging Technologist, Pathology Digital Imaging Lab, Wexner Medical Center, Department of Pathology, and Sandra Banky, PA(ASCP), Director of Operations, Wexner Medical Center, Department of Pathology.
Moderated by: Bob McGonnagle, Publisher, CAP TODAY
Q. If a person died from an overdose, would the toxicology screen always show which drugs were in their system? Read answer.
Q. We are looking into using a scale to measure 24-hour urine samples, but we can’t find much literature about it. Is the variation between the measurement from a scale and actual volume clinically significant? What kind of validation is recommended? Read answer.
Q. Is it acceptable for a clinical laboratory to calculate ionized (free) calcium if calcium ion-selective electrode is not available? Are results of calculated ionized (free) calcium of acceptable accuracy in clinical practice? And what is the recommended formula for performing this calculation? Read answer.
Q. Under checklist requirement COM.04250 “Comparability of Instruments and Methods —Nonwaived Testing,” what is the minimum number of samples that should be analyzed and which acceptance criteria should be used for the comparison? In addition, what parameters in the complete blood count do not apply for comparison purposes?
Read answer.
Q. I read an article about phlebotomy that stated for proper patient care, the recommended maximum number of blood draw attempts is four. The hospital at which I work recently implemented a procedure in which the nurses perform blood draws, instead of laboratory personnel. The procedure requires a nurse to attempt a blood draw twice and, if not successful, ask another nurse, and then ask the nursing supervisor before finally calling the laboratory. This policy has been difficult for hospital staff, and I feel terrible for patients who get stuck numerous times. Can you provide feedback that I can use to express my concerns to hospital administration? Read answer.
Q. Are there high-specificity IHC stains for diagnosing mesothelioma that differ from those recommended in the “Guidelines for pathologic diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma: 2012 update of the consensus statement from the International Mesothelioma Interest Group”? Read answer.
Q. For our hospital tissue and blood committee, we would like to expand the tissue component to look at more preoperative versus postoperative diagnoses (acute appendicitis, for example) and anything else that should be evaluated, such as adequacy of tissue and blood samples. Is there a resource that provides a list of tissue-related quality metrics that we can evaluate?
Read answer.
Q. Can you provide a current reference for the various modifications of transfused red blood cells — for example, irradiation and white cell depletion — and their indications? Read answer.
Q. In the context of allowable error relative to the immature platelet fraction test, is the analytical measurement range applicable to the IPF?
Read answer.
Q. What is the normal random plasma glucose value? Read answer.
Q. For the population with diabetes, what can the clinical laboratory do to promote evidence-based testing and monitoring for chronic kidney disease? Read answer.
Q. What are the proficiency testing enrollment requirements if an analyte is tested in multiple locations within the laboratory? Read answer.
Q. With regard to specimens from oncology patients exhibiting hyperleukocytosis, the Beckman Coulter DxH 800 analyzer used by our laboratory autocorrects the RBCs, but the lab is still seeing errors on the indices (hemoglobin, MCV). What is the best way to correct for potential WBC interference on the RBC indices? Read answer.
Q. Is there a place for procalcitonin testing alongside PCR testing on the BioFire system? Read answer.
Q. We are looking into validation methods for lower breakpoints for carbapenems. The CDC has banks of organisms available to run on our Vitek 2 (BioMerieux). Are there guidelines on which organisms to include and how many times to test? Read answer.
Q. Does the CAP have recommendations regarding diagnostic criteria for evaluating HER2 in colorectal carcinoma? Read answer.
Q. How should automated body fluid cell counts be reported? Read answer.
Q. Can the CAP provide guidance on revised checklist requirements GEN.77500 Liquid Nitrogen and Dry Ice and GEN.77550 Liquid Nitrogen Safety? Read answer.
Q. How do you report the presence of immature granulocytes in a 100-cell differential? Read answer.
Q. Should a patient with a hematocrit greater than 55 percent be redrawn for correction always or only when prothrombin time and partial prothrombin time are elevated? Read answer.
Q. Does a histotechnologist need a bachelor’s degree to run in situ hybridization? Read answer.
Q. Does using an alcohol swab affect the results of an ethanol blood test? Read answer.
Q. Is there a recommended procedure for or reference article about checking APTT reagent sensitivities (for the identification of factors VIII and IX) when changing lot numbers and reference range? Read answer.
